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UNCLE JIM’S STORIES 

FROM THE 

OLD TESTAMENT 


BY 

HARTWELL JAMES 

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ILLUSTRATED 



» ) ? 


PHILADELPHIA 

HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY 


BY THE SAME AUTHOR 

IN UNIFORM STYLE 

The Boys of the Bible 

Uncle Jim’s Bible Stories 

Uncle Jim’s Stories from 
the New Testament 

Stories vividly told, and replete with 
incident and adventure, that address 
themselves to the young reader’s heart, 
and will carry him through the pages 
with irresistible curiosity, 

i 2 mo, Cloth, with Decorated Cover and 
Colored Illustrations. 

Price, each, $ 1.00 

HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY 
PHILADELPHIA 


Copyright, 1923, by 
Howard E. Altemus 


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* 


FEINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OI AMEEICA 


JUN 22 1923 


©C1A7 05010, 

'IkAG • '* 



CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Betty Gets a Surprise. 7 

The Land of Nod. 14 

The Children of the Tents. 23 

The Angel at the Well. 30 

The Voice in the Night.,. 39 

When the Sheaves Stood Up. 52 

The Dream Man. 63 

The Beautiful Princess. 73 

The River of Blood. 86 

The Tent of God. 99 

Ruth the Gleaner . Ill 

The Child of the Holy Tent. 123 

The Sea-Robbers. 136 

The Little Harpist of the Hills. 147 

Goliath. 157 

The Ivory Palace. 166 

The Mantle of Elijah. 178 

The Queen of Judah. 189 

The Little Captive Maid. 200 

A King Who Worshiped Himself. 210 

The Prophet in the Well. 219 

A Prince of Jerusalem. 227 

























UNCLE JIM’S STORIES 
FROM THE 
OLD TESTAMENT 




Uncle Jim’s Stories from the 
Old Testament 


BETTY GETS A SURPRISE 


i i T) ETTY DEAR, I have a happy surprise 
I) for you,” said Mrs. Burroughs as Betty 
came dashing into the house in response to her 
mother's call. 

“ A — a surprise! ” stammered Betty, flinging 
back her yellow curls, and opening her blue eyes 
inquiringly. 

“ Yes,” answered her mother smiling happily. 
“ Can you guess what it is? ” 

“I know! It's Daddy! Daddy's coming 
home,” cried the little girl excitedly. 

“No, dear; Daddy is at sea in the big ship 
that he commands,” replied Mrs. Burroughs a 
little wistfully. “ He is not expected home for 
at least another month.” 

The joy reflected in Betty Burroughs' eyes 

7 



BETTY GETS A SURPRISE 


quickly faded, giving place to a single tear-drop 
that slowly trickled down one cheek. Betty 
bravely brushed the tear away and awaited her 
mother’s further words. 

“ I am sorry, dear. I, too, wish that it might 
be Daddy who is coming. Next to Daddy, whom 
of all persons in the world would you rather see? ” 

“ Let me see. I think — I think I should like 
to see Uncle Jim, my Daddy’s own brother,” 
decided Betty after a moment’s reflection. “ Yes, 
I am sure of it. It is Uncle Jim! I know it 
now,” she cried. “ Oh, goodie, goodie! How 
wonderful! ” Betty clapped her hands and 
danced joyously about the room, then threw 
impulsive arms about her mother’s neck. “ Don’t 
tell me it isn’t true, Mother dear,” she begged. 
“ You know I don’t like to be disappointed, 
and — ” 

“Yes, it is your Uncle Jim Burroughs who is 
coming to see us. He will be here to-morrow 
morning, and with him your Cousin Dick with 
whom you had such a happy visit last summer. 
I have a letter from Uncle Jim in reply to my 
invitation to him to come and spend as long a 
time as possible with us. He writes that, if we 
can stand noisy Dick and himself that long, they 
may stay with us for a whole month.” 

8 


BETTY GETS' A SURPRISE 


“Won’t that be glorious! ” breathed Betty. 

“ Indeed it will, and, perhaps by then, Daddy 
may have returned from his voyage.” 

“ Oh, Mother, you are telling me so many 
wonderful things that it makes my head all topsy¬ 
turvy,” bubbled the little girl, her face flushed 
and eyes sparkling. “ Do you think that Uncle 
Jim will tell us more of those wonderful Bible 
stories, too? ” she questioned eagerly. 

Mrs. Burroughs said she did not know, but 
thought he might if Betty really wished him to 
do so. 

“ The last time he was here you and Dick en¬ 
joyed Uncle Jim’s Bible Stories so much, and they 
made you both so eager to attend Sunday-school, 
that I am sure he will be willing to tell you any 
others that he may know,” answered Mrs. Bur¬ 
roughs smilingly. 

Betty Burroughs was now nine years old, and 
since her father, whom she worshiped, was at 
sea all the time, save for the few days that he 
could now and then spend at home when his ship 
was in port, the little girl’s life was somewhat 
lonely. True, she had playmates, but none could 
fill the place in her life occupied by the big, 
bronzed man, who, in his blue uniform, resplend¬ 
ent with gold braid, and possessing a voice deep 

9 


BETTY GETS A SURPRISE 


and thrilling as the seas that he sailed, was to 
her the much-loved hero of her childhood. 

With the thought of what was before her, Betty 
was excited and flushed all the rest of the day. 
She helped her mother put the house in order, 
or thought she did, chattering incessantly, but 
when night came she found herself too tired to 
lie awake and think about the happy days just 
ahead of her. 

In Betty Burroughs’ dreams that night, Daddy, 
Uncle Jim and Dick were all mixed up, as she 
expressed it later, and her first conscious mo¬ 
ment after going to bed was when she was 
awakened by the sun shining in her eyes, and 
the sound of voices belowstairs. The little girl 
sat up rubbing her eyes and wondering who was 
making so much noise in the parlor. All at once 
Betty recollected, and was out of bed with a 
bound. A few moments later she was downstairs 
embracing Uncle Jim and shaking hands with 
Cousin Dick, who, in one short year, had grown 
into a big, handsome boy. Dick was so big and 
so much like a man that, at first, Betty was a 
little shy of him. As the day wore on, however, 
and she realized that it was the same fun-loving 
Dick, her shyness left her, and in their play 
after breakfast Betty forgot all about Uncle Jim 


io 


BETTY GETS A SURPRISE 


and the stories that she had hoped he might 
tell her. 

In the meantime Uncle Jim and Mrs. Bur¬ 
roughs had spent the day talking, principally 
about the children. 

It was not until that evening after supper that 
Betty all of a sudden remembered what she had 
been looking forward to — more wonderful sto¬ 
ries of the Bible from Uncle Jim. She asked 
him very sweetly to tell them some. 

“ More stories? ” answered Uncle Jim quizzi¬ 
cally. “ Why, I thought you were tired of hear¬ 
ing my stories. I am quite certain that Dick is.” 

“ I am not,” protested Dick. 

“ I love them, every one,” breathed Betty. 

“ And have you been to Sunday-school regu¬ 
larly since I saw you, Betty? ” 

“ Every Sunday, Uncle Jim.” 

“ That is fine. So has Dick, and he made me 
promise that I would tell you two children more 
stories even if I had to tell the old ones over 
again. I think I shall be able to tell you some 
new ones. Then, if the new ones run out, of 
course you will let me off — ” 

“No,” answered Betty promptly with a vig¬ 
orous shake of the head. 

“We must have a name for these stories. Do 


ii 


BETTY GETS A SURPRISE 


you recall what you named the stories I told you 
when here last summer? ” asked Uncle Jim. 

“ Of course I do. ‘ Uncle Jim’s Bible Stories/ ” 
replied Betty. 

“ Right. What shall we call those I am going 
to tell you now? ” he asked. 

Betty suggested that they call them by the 
same title, but Uncle Jim shook his head and 
said they must have a new name because they 
were to be stories from the Old Testament only. 
Neither Betty nor Dick could think of anything 
better than the name previously selected, so Uncle 
Jim gave the matter a few moments’ thought. 

“I have it!” he announced. “ I’ll tell you 
what we will call them, but if you don’t like it 
we shall have to try again. What do you say 
to ‘ Uncle Jim’s Stories from the Old Testament/ 
children? ” 

“ Splendid! ” cried Betty. “ I think that is a 
perfectly wonderful title.” 

“ Fine,” agreed Dick. 

Betty said the title sounded like real stories, 
and Uncle Jim assured her that the stories he 
would tell would be real stories, the most fas¬ 
cinating stories in all the world. 

“ Suppose we go into the parlor where we may 
be more comfortable,” he suggested. 

12 


BETTY GETS A SURPRISE 


Upon reaching the parlor, Betty drew up a 
hassock, and placing it before him, leaned an 
elbow on Uncle Jim’s knee and fixed her now 
eager blue eyes on his face. 

“ What is it to be about, Father? ” questioned 
Dick. 

“ Listen, and I will tell you,” said Uncle Jim. 
He then began to tell them of “ The Land of 
Nod, the Story of the Garden of Wonderful 
Trees.” 


> 


13 


THE LAND OF NOD 


THE STORY OF THE GARDEN OF WONDERFUL TREES 

T^ICTURE, if you can, children/’ said 
JT Uncle Jim, “ an angel with a sword that 
looked as if it were on fire, guarding the gates 
of a garden of wonderful trees. Think what a 
wonderful picture that must have been. 

“ This garden was in the East, in a strange, 
hot country, where you may sometimes find miles 
and miles of wind-tossed sand, and sometimes 
high, rocky mountains, and sometimes wide rivers 
that flow between banks of tall reeds. A part 
of it was called ‘ The Land of Nod,’ which means 
the ‘ Land of Wandering.’ In this country there 
were big cities, long since fallen into ruins, but 
once fine and strong, with kings’ palaces built 
inside their towered walls. 

“ Here lived people who could make beautiful 
things in silver and gold and brass, who could 
carve in ivory and mould delicate vases upon 
potters’ wheels. They went out hunting lions 
and other wild beasts in the desert, and came 

14 


THE LAND OE NOD 


back to banquets where music was played to them 
as they ate. And at the kings’ courts there were 
men who called themselves magicians, who 
thought that they could read the future in the 
water, or the sand, or in the stars. 

“At a distance from the great cities, where 
the kings and princes were often very wicked, 
lived the people of the Tents. They had sheep 
and cattle, and they moved through the Land 
of Wandering, passing from place to place. Some 
of them were very rich and owned beautiful 
things in silver and gold, though they did not 
build temples and houses. But the greatest 
treasure they had, greater than any jewel that 
ever shone, was their belief in God. 

“ It- was of God that they told in all their 
stories, and sang in all their songs. The little 
dark-haired, dark-eyed boys and girls who played 
about the tent doors, or sat near their mothers 
at sunset, never tired of hearing the beautiful 
tales. Some of their grown-up brothers had 
harps and cymbals, and were taught to make 
music and to dance, not for mere pleasure, but 
for worship of the Great God to whose people 
they belonged. Other nations about them prayed 
to the sun, or the moon, or even to big stone 
pillars set up in the temples of the hills. But 

i5 

8 — Uncle Jim's Stories from Old Testament, 


THE LAND OF NOD 


the children of the Tent-People prayed to God 
alone. 

“ Among other tales, the mothers tried to tell 
the children the story of how God made the 
world. They said it was made in Six Wonder¬ 
ful Days — what we call the Creation. Every 
day, they explained, for six days running, God 
made something beautiful and new. The first 
of all was Light. And then He made the blue 
skies and seas, the mountains and the meadows, 
the waving trees, the sun, moon and stars, the 
fishes, the singing birds and all the animals, great 
and small. And on the seventh day He rested, 
and saw that all the things which He had made 
were good. 

“ The mothers could not explain these Six 
Wonderful Days of God, nor say how long or 
how short they had been. They only knew that 
the ‘ evening and the morning ’ — not the morn¬ 
ing and the evening — made each one. Perhaps 
years and years of quiet twilight lay in between. 
But they told how, on the sixth day, God made 
man in His own image, and afterwards gave him 
a beautiful garden to live in, and a fair sweet 
woman to be his wife.” 

“ That was the Garden of Eden, wasn’t it, 
Uncle Jim? ” interrupted Betty. 

16 


THE LAND OF NOD 


“ Yes, my dear,” resumed Uncle Jim. “ A 
river flowed through this blossoming garden and 
watered the sandy country in which were built 
the big cities. But the source of the river was 
in Eden, where God had planted the Garden 
of Wonderful Trees. 

“ How wistfully the Tent-People must have 
talked of it! Trees of every kind grew there. 
At noon the sunshine filtered through the boughs 
laden with apricots and oranges, figs and mul¬ 
berries, pomegranates and grapes. The loving¬ 
kindness of God breathed through the blossoms, 
and His mercy dropped in the gentle silver dew. 
And the man and the woman, who were called 
Adam and Eve, might eat of all the fruit in the 
garden except that of a tree which grew in the 
midst of the others and was called the Tree of 
Knowledge of Good and Evil. In the midst of 
the Garden also was another wonderful tree, the 
Tree of Life.” 

“ Father, do you know what kind of trees those 
were? ” questioned Dick. 

Uncle Jim shook his head. 

“ Nobody knows what these two trees were 
like; but they must have been very beautiful, 
with cool and tempting fruit. We know that the 
Tree of Knowledge was pleasant to look at; while 

17 


THE LAND OF NOD 


the Tree of Life seems to have been in a quiet 
holy place by itself, as if in its boughs lingered 
the secrets of God. It has never been described 
to us, and we can only picture it as a tree of fra¬ 
grance and mystery. 

“ I do not think that Adam and Eve wandered 
often near to the sacred Tree of Life. But the 
Tree of Knowledge was in a more open place. 
And, one day, Eve was in the garden near at 
hand, when she heard a rustle by the tree, and 
presently, among the waving bushes, she saw the 
head of a big serpent. It spoke to her, and 
asked why she was not gathering the fine fruit 
from the Tree of Knowledge, which was the best 
fruit of all to eat. 

“ ‘ God told us not to/ answered Eve simply. 
She was not afraid of the Serpent, but stood 
looking at it in wonder. 

“ ‘ What would happen to you if you disobeyed 
Him, do you think? ’ asked the Serpent. 

“ ‘ We should surely die/ said Eve. 

“‘ Surely not/ the Serpent told her, with a 
wicked, cunning look in its eyes. ‘ God knows 
that, if you eat that fruit, you will be great and 
powerful, as He is. That is the reason He has 
told you not to! ’ 

“Eve looked at the Serpent again, and then 

?8 


THE LAND OF NOD 


she looked at the fruit on the Tree. It hung, 
tempting and fragrant, among the pretty leaves. 
There was such a lot of it, too; the Tree seemed 
almost to bend with its weight. The Serpent 
went nearer the Tree, and drew the branches 
towards her, rustling and twisting its long shin¬ 
ing body among them. 

“ ‘ You would be as powerful and know as much 
as God Himself/ it repeated. ‘Why don’t you 
gather and eat? ’ 

“Eve wanted to obey God, but somehow the 
temptation was too strong. She plucked some of 
the fruit and ate it guiltily. And then Adam 
came down the path to see what she was doing, 
and she gave him some to eat too. When they 
had finished eating, they looked at each other. 
And, all at once, they were miserable and sorry 
and ashamed, and they hurried away from the 
Tree and the Serpent, and went to the other end 
of the garden, wondering why they should be un¬ 
happy. 

“ The day wore on, the sun sank, and the 
garden grew sweet and cool. And then a deeper 
hush came over it, and a little wind thrilled 
through the hush, and a Voice spoke, gravely and 
tenderly, through the soft breeze. And Adam 
and Eve knew that God was in the garden, and 

19 


THE LAND OF NOD 


they hid themselves more deeply, and trembled 
among the trees. But God called to them and 
asked why they had hidden themselves, and 
Adam answered that it was because they were so 
unhappy and ashamed. 

“ God knew before Adam spoke that they had 
eaten the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge; 
nothing else could have taken from them the joy 
and happiness that would always have been theirs 
if they had not disobeyed Him. He was very 
grieved and displeased, and told them they could 
not live in the garden any longer, for He could 
not trust them. And He told the Serpent that it, 
too, must be punished by being obliged always to 
crawl on the ground, instead of being able to lift 
itself up, as other creatures could. When God 
had said this, the Serpent crept away, and Adam 
and Eve went sorrowfully out into the desert. 
And God put His winged angels at the gate to 
guard the Tree of Life, so that the man and 
woman were never able to go back into the garden 
any more. 

“ This was the story told to the little children 
of the Tent-People in the Land of Wandering. 
Many hundreds of years afterwards a man named 
Moses wrote the story down, and it was put, with 
many other beautiful tales, in a great book. And 


20 


THE LAND OF NOD 


this book, called the Book of Genesis, is now a 
part of the Bible, where, any day, you can read 
the story for yourselves. For, you see, Moses was 
inspired by God to tell His people all about the 
Creation, and to show how light could never have 
come out of darkness, nor land have been sepa¬ 
rated from water, nor birds and fishes have lived 
in air and sea, without the Power of God. And, 
although it had happened long, long before his 
day, Moses was led by God to tell, also, how 
sorrow and pain came to the man and the woman 
because they disobeyed God’s command, and, in 
consequence, were sent out into the Land of 
Wandering, far away from the Garden of Won¬ 
derful Trees. 

“You see, children, God gave the lesson of 
obedience to the first man and woman,” finished 
Thiele Jim. 

“ Yes, but I don’t understand why he punished 
the Serpent,” said Dick. “ Wasn’t the Serpent 
put there by God on purpose to tempt Adam 
and Eve? ” 

“ No doubt the Serpent was permitted to do 
that, but for going contrary to God’s command it 
necessarily had to be punished. Then, too, the 
punishment of the Serpent was a further lesson 
to Adam and Eve.” 


21 


THE LAND OF NOD 


“ Wasn’t Eve afraid of the Serpent when it 
came to tempt her? ” wondered Betty. 

“ No,” answered Uncle Jim smilingly. “ Can’t 
you think why? ” 

Betty shook her head. 

“ I know,” cried Dick. “ She never had 6een a 
snake and didn’t know what it was.” 

Uncle Jim told Dick that he was right, but that 
he had not put his answer in proper form. 

“ Neither Adam nor Eve had knowledge until 
after they had eaten from the Tree of Knowledge, 
so how could Eve be afraid? ” replied Uncle Jim. 

Betty here began to beg for another story. 

“ No, children. It is bedtime,” reminded Mrs. 
Burroughs, who had been listening to the story 
with as keen interest as had Betty and Dick. 
“ Uncle Jim is tired, too, after his long journey.” 

“ To-morrow morning, but not another one 
until then,” announced Uncle Jim with emphasis. 

“ And will you tell us more about the Beautiful 
Garden, then? ” begged Betty, getting up 
reluctantly. 

“ No. The next story I tell you will be called, 
‘The Children of the Tents.’ And now, good¬ 
night, children. Happy dreams.” 


22 


THE CHILDREN OF THE TENTS 


THE STORY OF THE DOVE AND THE RAINBOW 



HREE pairs of eyes were eagerly fixed on 


JL Uncle Jim when he stepped into the parlor 
next morning after a long walk in the country. 
Mrs. Burroughs had brought in her sewing and 
was already busily at work. 

“ James, these children were beginning to get 
impatient,” she smiled up into the kindly face 
of Uncle Jim. 

“ Just so,” he nodded. “ Impatience early in 
life will teach them to be patient later on. Chil¬ 
dren, what story did I promise to tell you this 
morning? ” 

“ ‘ The Children of the Tents/ ” answered 
Betty quickly. 

“ Right,” said Uncle Jim, seating himself in 
what Dick thought was the most uncomfortable 
chair in the house. 

“ The children of those early Bible days loved 
stories just the same as children do now, and we 
can picture them in our minds, curled up on the 


THE CHILDREN OF THE TENTS 


sands of the desert at their mothers’ feet in front 
of their tent-homes, eagerly listening to these 
same wonderful stories. The one I shall tell you 
this morning is one that parents told in the long, 
long ago. Some of the things in this story you 
heard in ‘ Uncle Jim’s Bible Stories ’ when I was 
here last summer. Now for the story. 

“ Once upon a time there lived a man called 
Noah. That name means ‘ Comfort.’ 

“ He was called Noah when he was a baby 
because his father believed that, through this 
little child, his other children would be blessed 
and helped to make better homes for themselves 
in the parched and dusty Country of Wandering, 
where the sun was so hot, and the ground so 
scorched and dry. Noah lived a long way from 
the lost Garden, among the cities of some very 
wicked people. As he kept watch by his tents 
he must have seen the wicked kings and nobles 
hunting in the desert; and when he traveled near 
their palaces he would see them at feasts in honor 
of their idols of wood and stone. But Noah 
clung fast to the true faith — the belief in one 
great God who had made the heavens and the 
earth. 

“ One day, when this good and just man was 
growing old, God’s voice came to him, and Noah 


24 


THE CHILDREN OF THE TENTS 


listened. The Voice told him that, owing to the 
wickedness of the people, a great flood was to 
cover the earth, but that God meant to save 
Noah, and his wife, and their sons and their 
wives from the great waters. For Noah and his 
family loved God, and He knew that they would 
teach His word to their children and grandchil¬ 
dren. Noah was told to build a great boat, called 
an Ark, and to take shelter in it, with his sons 
and daughters-in-law. And into the Ark all the 
animals of the world, two of every sort, were to 
be taken also.” 

“ It must have made Noah very sad to learn 
that all the people on the earth were to be 
drowned,” interrupted Dick. 

“ I know that I should have cried,” murmured 
Betty. 

“ Perhaps it did make Noah sad, but he loved 
God, and knew that God’s ways were the ways 
of wisdom,” replied Uncle Jim. 

“ If you were to travel now to that far coun¬ 
try where the rivers Tigris and Euphrates flow, 
and where so many soldiers fought during the 
Great War, you would see, passing up and down 
the streams, big barges shaped almost like the 
Noah’s Arks we all know so well. In these big 
barges animals and people are carried, and taken 

25 


THE CHILDREN OF THE TENTS 


to and fro upon the water. It was just such 
a boat as this that Noah was told to build, only 
very, very much larger. It was to be made of 
strong hard wood, and covered with pitch inside 
and out, so that it would be waterproof. It 
was to have three stories — like a house with 
attics — a door in the side, and a window near 
the top. Because, as well as the people and the 
animals, a lot of food had to be stored, so that 
they might not starve. 

“ So Noah and his sons built this wonderful 
boat, bigger and more marvelous than any ship 
that had ever been built before. 

“ Then Noah and his family went inside, and 
waited, with the door open, for the animals to 
follow. What a wonderful waiting-time it must 
have been! Who can tell in what way the whis¬ 
per of the coming flood traveled across the val¬ 
leys, and above the mountain-tops, through the 
deep forests and over the foaming rivers, to draw 
the animals towards the Ark that was prepared 
for them? 

“ But they came slowly or quickly as the case 
might be, through the gray drifting mists, leav¬ 
ing their homes and their companions behind. 
Can you imagine it all? How a great lion and 
lioness trod, with soft feet and tawny limbs, 

26 


THE CHILDREN OF THE TENTS 


over the desert sand to the marvelous boat? 
How a pair of humming birds, bright as jewels, 
flew in at the open door? How, presently, a soft- 
eyed fawn persuaded his still softer-eyed little 
wife to patter timidly up the bank that led to the 
entrance; and then how two blue butterflies, with 
wings like silk, fluttered silently to shelter! And, 
as night fell, the owls must have flown in with 
strange cries, and the bats have come, quite noise¬ 
lessly ; while morning would bring the wild ducks, 
and the rabbits, and the larks. Two by two they 
came.” 

“ Isn’t that wonderful? ” murmured Betty. 

“ I can almost see them going into the Ark,” 
agreed Dick, nodding thoughtfully. “ It is also 
wonderful that they did not get to fighting among 
themselves.” 

“ And when they were all there God shut them 
in,” resumed Uncle Jim. “ Then, after seven 
days, the great rivers rose, the little brooks be¬ 
came torrents, and the marshes turned into lakes. 
And from the clouds the rain fell without stop¬ 
ping. To and fro, to and fro, the Ark floated on 
the face of the waters, until, at last, after many 
days, God caused the rain to cease. 

“ So, one morning, in the seventh month, and 
the seventeenth day of the month, the Ark rested 

27 


THE CHILDREN OF THE TENTS 


on the top of a high mountain called Ararat, the 
waters began to go down, and those who were 
inside the Ark saw the peaks of other mountains 
above the flood. After forty days more, Noah 
opened the little window, and let a raven fly out. 
Also he sent forth a small, soft gray dove. The 
raven went forth to and fro, but never came back. 
But the little dove came back, and fluttered 
against the window, and Noah put out his hand 
and drew her in. 

“ Then, after a week, he sent the dove out 
again. Again she came back. But this time she 
had an olive leaf in her beak, that she had plucked 
from a bough. Noah knew then that the green 
trees were above water. So, after seven days 
more, he let the dove fly again. This time the 
dove did not come back at all. 

“ Then, having waited for the waters to dry 
up, Noah opened the door of the Ark, and he 
and his wife, and his sons and their wives, went 
out on to the top of the high mountain in the 
morning light; and the animals followed them. 
So Noah built an altar on the mountain-top, and 
gave thanks to God. 

“ While Noah was offering up thanks, God’s 
voice came to him through the mists, promising 
that He would never destroy the world by flood 

28 


THE CHILDREN 0.F THE TENTS 


any more, but that, while the earth remained, 
seed-time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and 
winter, day and night, should not cease. And 
God told Noah to cultivate the earth, and bade 
him look for the token of the promise in the 
clouds. 

“As Noah looked, he saw beautiful gleaming 
colors group and gather in the mists of the dawn. 
The colors rose high in a shining semicircle over 
the mountain. And Noah, looking at the rain¬ 
bow, and remembering his deliverance, knelt 
again in adoration and thankfulness.” 

“ Was there not a living thing left in the world 
after that great flood, Father? ” asked Dick. 

“ Not a thing, Son, except the people and the 
animals in the Ark. And from that beginning 
came the races and the animals of the world, and 
all that is life as we know it to-day.” 

“ Tell us another,” begged Betty. “ Please do, 
Uncle Jim. There is plenty of time before 
Mother and I start to get dinner ready.” 

Mrs. Burroughs smiled and nodded to Uncle 
Jim, who then cleared his throat and announced 
that he would tell just one more. 

“ This story,” he said, “ will be called, ‘ The 
Angel at the Well.' I know that Betty especially 
will like it.” 


29 


THE ANGEL AT THE WELL 


THE STORY OF THE PRINCE IN 
THE WILDERNESS 

i i T SUPPOSE you children expect me to talk 
JL all day,” began Uncle Jim laughingly. 
“ I know the story I am about to tell will interest 
you because it is both beautiful and fascinating. 

“ Many, many years had passed,” continued 
the story teller, “ since the incidents took place 
that are related in the story I have just told you. 
A great man had grown up in the country that 
had once been covered with the waters of the 
flood. Does either of you know his name? ” 

“ I know. Solomon! ” cried Betty. 

“ Wrong! ” answered Uncle Jim with a shake 
of the head. “ Solomon came later, as you will 
hear at another time. The man I am going to 
tell you about was at first called Abram; in after 
years God told him he must change his name to 
Abraham, because that meant a father of many 
nations. Abraham left the land where he was 


30 


THE ANGEL AT THE WELL 


bom and went to live in Canaan, which we call 
Palestine, or the Holy Land, to-day. After many 
wanderings, he set up his tents in the plain of 
Mamre, near Hebron; and lived there with his 
wife, Sarah, and his little son, Ishmael, and Ish- 
mael’s mother, who was called Hagar, a brown¬ 
eyed, dark-haired Egyptian. 

“ Abraham and Sarah had brought Hagar back 
from Egypt after a long visit they had once paid 
there; and Sarah, who had no children of her 
own, was very glad, at first, that Abraham and 
Hagar had a little son. Abraham was a sort of 
shepherd-king, and had much gold and silver, 
and many flocks of cattle and sheep. Unless 
he had a son of his own, all these things would 
pass away from his family at his death. Then, 
too, Sarah knew that God had promised her 
husband that he should be the father of a great 
nation. So she thought that, through Ishmael, 
Abraham’s name would be carried on. 

“ Well, they all lived contentedly together un¬ 
til, at last, Sarah had a little baby of her own, and 
knew, by this, that God had blessed her and 
Abraham very greatly indeed. They called the 
little baby Isaac. Abraham loved Sarah’s tiny 
son very, very dearly; but he still loved the lad 
Ishmael as well. And it seemed as if they might 

3i 

S — Uncle Jim's Stories from Old Testament. 


THE ANGEL AT THE WELL 


have gone on in happiness if Ishmael had only 
been kind to and loved this soft, helpless little 
baby. 

“ But Ishmael was a wild, thoughtless boy, 
probably always wanting to shoot arrows at the 
goats among the rocks, and the hawks overhead. 
He was rather impatient, to tell the truth, with 
the fuss that everybody made about the new 
baby. And once, when Abraham and Sarah had 
a big splendid feast in tiny Isaac’s honor, Ish¬ 
mael laughed right out at the whole thing — and 
laughed at the new baby most of all.” 

“ Oh, what a rude boy! ” exclaimed Betty. 

“ I am glad I am not like that. Aren’t you 
glad, too, Betty? ” questioned Dick teasingly. 

Betty answered only with a toss of the head as 
Uncle Jim resumed. 

“ Sarah saw him laughing, and was very angry 
— so angry that she forgot the time when she 
had been glad that Abraham and Hagar had a 
little son. She went to Abraham, and asked him 
to send both Ishmael and his mother away. For 
she said, ‘ Hagar is only an Egyptian slave, after 
all, and I am a princess of the shepherd-kings, 
and have given you a son of your own family 
and tribe.’ 

“ Abraham listened with a sad heart* He did 




THE ANGEL AT THE WELL 


not know what to do. He loved Ishmael; but 
he saw that the lad would never be kind to Isaac, 
and that Sarah would always be unhappy and 
vexed. And he troubled himself very much 
about it, until God’s voice came to him in the 
night, and comforted him. 

“ The voice told him to do as Sarah had said, 
and gave a promise that, though it must be Isaac 
who should carry on Abraham’s name and in¬ 
herit his shepherd-kingdom, yet Ishmael also 
should be greatly blessed, and have twelve princes 
for his sons. So Abraham was comforted, and 
knew that he might safely send Hagar away, for 
she would have God as her protector, to look 
after her and her young son. 

“ So, while Sarah and Isaac were still asleep 
in the tent, and only the early cries of the goat¬ 
herds and the soft bleating of sheep and lowing 
of cattle could be heard on the plain outside, 
Abraham rose, and went out in search of Hagar. 
He found her in her own tent with Ishmael, all 
unconscious of what was going to happen. Very 
sorrowfully, yet knowing that harm could not 
come to them, he bade the Egyptian woman and 
her son good-bye. And, giving Hagar as much 
bread as she could carry, and setting a big bottle 
of water on her shoulder, he sent her into the 

33 


THE ANGEL AT THE WELL 


wilderness, with Ishmael, laughing and light¬ 
hearted as ever, running before her. 

“ Abraham watched, in grief and yet in hope, 
until they were out of sight. Then he turned 
back to his own tent, and prayed to God for 
them while the mother and son went on in the 
beautiful clear air of the morning, which made 
the sands of the desert glisten like diamonds, 
and showed up the high brown rocks, all sharp 
and dark against the blue sky. 

“ Hagar, perhaps hardly thinking what she did, 
turned her steps towards the great sandy trail 
that led from Canaan, through the desert of 
Beersheba, into Egypt, the land of her own birth. 
Along this trail large companies of people, called 
* caravans/ often came and went, with camels, 
and covered wagons, and teams of mules shaking 
their sweet-toned bridle-bells. Perhaps Hagar 
thought that she might come across such a car¬ 
avan going down to Egypt with timber, or sheep¬ 
skins, or rare woven carpets for sale. If she were 
to meet one, the travelers would most likely be 
kind to her, and give her and Ishmael help upon 
their hard and lonely way.” 

“ Uncle Jim, don’t you think it was unkind of 
Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away like 
that? ” protested Betty. 

34 


THE ANGEL AT THE WELL 


“ It was God’s command, and he was watching 
over the lonely travelers,” replied Uncle Jim. 
“ Once before she had been down the self-same 
desert road. Long, long ago, before Ishmael was 
born, Sarah had one day been angry with the 
Egyptian girl-slave. And Sarah’s anger was 
quite natural, for Hagar had been ungrateful, and 
Sarah had been kind. So Hagar had run away 
from both Abraham and his wife, and had been 
found by an angel near a well, on her way back to 
Egypt. And the angel had told her to return to 
her kind master and mistress, and to submit to 
Sarah. At the same time, this messenger from 
God had promised that Ishmael should soon be 
born. 

“ Very likely Hagar was now thinking of this, 
and trying to find her way along the caravan-road 
to the same well. But somehow she wandered in 
a wrong direction, and got lost in the great, hot, 
lonely desert. Ishmael, after being so laughing 
and brave, grew faint and weary. And all the 
water in the bottle was drunk, so that Hagar could 
not give him anything to quench his thirst, or to 
cool his parched throat and tongue. 

“ On and on they wandered, over the scorching 
sand, until at last, poor, weary, stricken Hagar 
broke down. She laid Ishmael under the slight 

35 


THE ANGEL AT THE WELL 


shade of a little bush, and she went a good way 
off. ‘ For/ she said to herself brokenly, ‘ let me 
not see the death of the child.’ 

“ Then, kneeling down, she broke into deep and 
bitter sobbing, in the weary desert, with the wild 
animals not far away among the rocks, and the 
cruel vultures hanging overhead. But, suddenly, 
as she sobbed, an angel’s voice called to her, softly 
and clearly, from the sky: 

“ ‘ Hagar, what aileth thee? Fear not! For 
God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is! 

Arise! Lift up the lad and hold him in 
thine hand! For I will make him a great 
nation! 9 

“ Hagar hushed her weeping and listened. The 
angel’s voice died away; but, in the silence, she 
heard a wonderful sound instead — the soft ripple 
of cool water, bubbling up through the hot sand. 
Then God opened her eyes, and she saw that she 
was kneeling quite close to a sparkling well. She 
filled the empty bottle with water again, and went 
joyfully across to Ishmael, and gave him to drink. 

“ God kept the promise that He had given both 
to Abraham, far away in his tent in Mamre, and 
to Hagar, sitting in the desert by the well. And 
Ishmael grew up brave and strong, and became a 
great archer in the wilderness. 

3d 


THE ANGEL AT THE WELL 


“When he was grown up, Hagar chose a wife 
for him out of Egypt — a brown-eyed, dark¬ 
haired maiden, just as she had been when she was 
young. And they had many sons and daughters, 
princes and princesses of the wilderness, like 
Ishmael and his wife themselves. 

“ Isaac and Ishmael met again one day, and 
remembered that they were brothers. That was 
on the day when they buried their good and faith¬ 
ful old father Abraham, laying him to rest in the 
quiet shadows of a great cave near the plain of 
Mamre, where already Sarah, his wife, had rested 
for many years. Isaac, too, was married by that 
time to a kind and beautiful woman called Re- 
bekah, who had comforted him after his mother’s 
death. Ishmael lived in the desert, but Isaac 
grew up among the tents of his father.” 

“ Is that the end of the story? ” questioned 
Betty regretfully. 

“Yes, Betty.” 

“ I think I should like to hear more about 
Isaac and Ishmael,” spoke up Dick. 

“ Very well, Son. Next time I will tell you an 
interesting story about something that happened 
to Isaac,” promised Uncle Jim. 

“ Ishmael wasn’t such a bad sort after all,” ob¬ 
served Dick, thoughtfully. 

37 


THE ANGEL AT THE WELL 


“ No,” agreed Uncle Jim. “ He must have 
been a man of great courage, living as he did on 
the desert where there were many ferocious beasts, 
and perhaps many bad men as well. Instead of 
a gun, he had only his bow and arrows with 
which to defend himself.” 

Betty wished to know if Ishmael took his beau¬ 
tiful Egyptian bride with him into the desert and 
the wilderness. Uncle Jim said that the dark¬ 
haired Egyptian maiden really did share most of 
his hardships with Ishmael. 

“ Ishmael had good in him, too, for he accepted 
the forgiveness that Isaac offered him over the 
grave of Father Abraham, and they were re¬ 
united as brothers.” 

“ Come, Betty,” interposed Mrs. Burroughs. 
“ We must get dinner now.” 

“ Coming, Mother dear,” answered Betty 
brightly, springing up in obedience to her 
mother’s word. “ But don’t forget, Uncle Jim, 
that story about Isaac comes next! ” 

“ Yes,” promised Uncle Jim. “ The story about 
Isaac will be the next, and we will call that narra¬ 
tive, ‘ The Voice in the Night, the Story of Isaac 
and the Beautiful Angel.’ ” 


33 


THE VOICE IN THE NIGHT 

THE STORY OF ISAAC AND THE 
BEAUTIFUL ANGEL 

I T was not until evening that Uncle Jim and 
his little audience again assembled to hear 
the story of Isaac and the Beautiful Angel, for 
which the children had been eagerly waiting. 

At Mrs. Burroughs’ suggestion, they had taken 
their chairs out to the back porch that overlooked 
the orchard. The air out there was full of sweet 
fragrance, and the full moon silvered the leaves 
of the trees. So beautiful was the night that, 
for several moments, no one spoke. Betty 
nestled close to Uncle Jim, who slipped a com¬ 
forting arm about her, while Dick, by Mrs. Bur¬ 
roughs’ side, stood straight and silent gazing up 
at the stars. It was a wonderful moment, a sweet 
moment for each of them — a moment that lived 
long in memory for Betty and Dick especially, 
who were thinking of the stories they had heard, 
and were painting mind pictures of them. 

“ The story that I am about to relate to you,” 

39 


THE VOICE IN THE NIGHT 


began Uncle Jim, “ should be a great object 
lesson to all of us, as it has been to millions 
before us. 

“ It was a warm night on the plain of Mamre, 
probably just such a night as this one, warm, 
balmy and sweet. The stars, we learn, were shin¬ 
ing like great lamps in the deep, blue-black 
heavens, as they do in the eastern lands. And 
perhaps they were the same stars that you see up 
above you now, children. 

“ The wind, sweet and silky-dry, was blowing 
over the closed flowers, and Abraham lay sound 
asleep in the cool, dark shelter of his tent. Can 
you not picture that scene, children? ” 

“Yes,” they breathed. 

“ It is a beautiful picture, too,” murmured Mrs. 
Burroughs. 

Uncle Jim resumed his story. 

“ It must have been a nice tent, as suited the 
greatness of a shepherd-king, with the carpets 
soft and the hangings warm and fine. All was 
peaceful, when suddenly, through the stillness 
of the tent, a voice sounded. And the voice was 
that of God. 

“ ‘ Abraham/ said the voice. ‘ Abraham! ’ 

“Abraham woke instantly. ‘ Behold! ’ he an¬ 
swered. ‘Here I am!’ 


40 


THE VOICE IN THE NIGHT 


“ Then the voice told him to do what seemed a 
very strange and terrible thing. 

“ ‘ Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, 
whom thou lovest,’ fell the sad words upon the 
darkness, ‘ and get thee unto the land of Moriah. 
And offer him there for a burnt offering upon 
one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.’ 

“ The voice ceased, but Abraham, startled and 
bewildered, made no reply. Sacrifice his little 
son Isaac! the child for whose sake he had parted 
with Ishmael, and whom he loved better than 
all the world! How was he to do this thing? 
Yet God had spoken. And Abraham had never 
failed to obey. 

“ Can you two children, for the moment, put 
yourselves in Abraham’s place, and imagine that 
you have been ordered by God to sacrifice your 
own child? What would you do? What would 
be your thoughts? What would you say? 
Would your faith in God be great enough to give 
you strength to make the great sacrifice? ” asked 
Uncle Jim impressively. 

There was no reply, but Betty and Dick were 
thinking deeply. 

“ Abraham’s faith was great enough to make 
any sacrifice demanded by God,” said Uncle Jim. 

“ So, when morning broke, all brilliant in 

4i 


THE VOICE IN THE NIGHT 


soft rose lights over the eastern hills, he rose 
from his bed, and went out into the beautiful 
dawn — just as he had gone out to waken Hagar 
and Ishmael a few years before. He saddled one 
of his asses, and called two of the young shep¬ 
herds who were his servants; then he went to 
rouse his little son, Isaac, from sleep. 

“ Isaac would sleep near his mother Sarah, and 
there is no doubt that her tent would be very 
beautiful indeed, for she was a great princess 
among the shepherd-kings. She would have 
purple curtains, and a silver hanging lamp burn¬ 
ing fragrant oil, and Isaac would most likely 
sleep on a soft mattress that in the East is called 
a bed. 

“ The little boy woke quickly, and was only too 
pleased to follow his father into the clear light 
of the dewy morning. They went down with the 
young shepherds to cut some wood — perhaps 
from almond or fir-trees. Abraham and his ser¬ 
vants chopped the boughs, while Isaac looked on 
eagerly. He knew that his father was going to 
offer up a sacrifice to God, and I dare say he was 
very pleased and proud because he was allowed to 
help. 

“You know, in those days so long ago, the 
people in the land where Abraham lived would 

42 


THE VOICE IN THE NIGHT 


sometimes give what they called a burnt-offering 
to God. They would kill a goat or a lamb — 
quite quickly, so that it felt no pain — and then 
lay it on an altar built of stones, and put branches 
of wood all round it, and set the wood on fire. 
This was known as a ‘ sacrifice/ 

“ So the sad shepherd-king seated his little son 
in front of him on the ass, and the two servants 
took the wood, and they set off, in sorrowful 
procession, towards the distant hills of Moriah. 
It was a three days’ journey, and oh! so different 
from the usual way in which Isaac traveled with 
his father. For generally they would sit on 
stately camels, with fine tents in wagons drawn 
by oxen, and with a lot of servants to wait on 
them, and to prepare food and shelter at night. 
But Isaac understood that this was a sort of a 
journey to be made in humble obedience and de¬ 
votion to God. 

“ The way they took was in exactly the oppo¬ 
site direction from that which Hagar had taken 
with little Ishmael. So, instead of traveling 
along the hot desert road towards Egypt, they 
journeyed among gray rocks and through stony 
valleys with wild shrubs growing here and 
there. They would see the young deer feeding 
among the scattered patches of grass, and hear 

43 


THE VOICE IN THE NIGHT 


the loud humming of the bees. There would be 
wild hill goats, too, leaping up the mountain¬ 
sides; and little foxes and jackals that lived in 
rocky holes. Always they traveled uphill, 
towards the high mountain in the distance, with 
its dark heights and silvery olive-woods. 

“ You may feel quite sure that little Isaac en¬ 
joyed this new and wonderful journey, but 
Abraham must have been very downcast and sad. 
He went on steadily, however, and then, on the 
third day, he lifted up his eyes, and saw the place 
for the sacrifice afar off. 

“ The little procession had just reached the top 
of a barren hill, where the wind blew strong and 
free. In front of them was a long gray plain, 
with a range of hills to the east. And at the end 
of the plain rose the steep slopes of Mount 
Moriah. 

“ Long, long afterwards, it was on Mount 
Moriah that a beautiful Temple was built, about 
which you will hear later. But, when Abraham 
saw it afar off, it was just a great, lonely hill 
covered with olive-woods. Not very far away 
was a half-hidden, mysterious city called Salem, 
which Abraham had visited some years ago. In 
this mysterious city a priest-king lived, who wor¬ 
shiped God, and who had a strange long name 

44 


THE VOICE IN THE NIGHT 


— Melchizedek. He had blessed Abraham at 
Salem, and had brought forth bread and wine to 
give him; for it was at a time when Abraham 
had helped to drive away the enemies of the 
priest-king. 

“ But now Abraham, chief of the shepherds, 
Was just a lonely, weary, sorrowful pilgrim, 
instead of a conquering prince of God, as the 
other king had called him. And no mighty priest 
came forth from Salem, with bread and wine, to 
meet him. All alone, without help or comfort, 
he must go forward on to Moriah, to do as God 
had told him. 

“ So he said to the young servants, 4 Abide ye 
here with the ass, and I and the lad will go 
yonder and worship, and come again to you/ 
Then he took the wood for the burnt-offering, 
and laid it on Isaac, his son. And he took the 
little vessel that held the charcoal-fire in his hand, 
and a knife also, and he and Isaac went away, 
both together, down into the stony plain towards 
the mountain at the end. 

“ For a little time they walked along the rocky 
path in silence, with the sound of the wind about 
them. High above the sides of the eastern hills 
the sun had risen, and was now shining, bright 
and beautiful, upon the sad father and his won- 

45 


THE VOICE IN THE NIGHT 


dering son. Little Isaac felt awed. He seemed 
to know that something sad and dreadful was 
going to happen. 

“ At last he looked up, and said, in a troubled 
voice, ‘ My father ? 9 And Abraham answered 
gravely, ‘ Here am I, my son.’ Then Isaac, still 
more troubled, said, ‘ Behold the fire and the 
wood! But where is the lamb for the burnt- 
offering? ’ 

“ Then Abraham’s face grew set and almost 
stern in its anguish. But all he answered was: 
‘My son, God will provide, Himself, a lamb for 
the burnt-offering! ’ ” 

“ Oh, the poor boy! ” cried Betty. “ Uncle 
Jim! How could the poor boy’s father ever 
bring himself to — ” 

“ Please do not interrupt me, Betty,” rebuked 
Uncle Jim. 

“ And then they went on in silence again. 

“ At last they came to the foot of Mount 
Moriah, and, side by side, climbed the steep path 
that led to the top. Little Isaac was silent and 
wistful now, and Abraham spoke not a word. 
When they reached the summit of the hill, still 
in silence, Abraham built an altar, small and 
square, of the stones that lay scattered around. 
All was still on the mountain, and the wild red 

46 

























































THE VOICE IN THE NIGHT 


deer, and the upland goats, stood watchful and 
silent upon the high rocks, while the pretty does 
drew back with their fawns into the darkling 
olive-woods. From Salem, perhaps, came strange, 
faint music — the songs and cymbals of the 
morning sacrifice offered by the priestly king. 
But Isaac and his father were quite alone. 

“ Then, when Abraham had built the altar, he 
laid the wood in order, and he took his little son 
Isaac, bound him, and laid him on the altar and 
upon the wood. Then he stretched out his hand 
and took the knife to slay his son. 

“ Isaac had not spoken or moved. He had 
just looked into his father’s face, and wondered, 
pitifully, what it all meant. Then, just as 
Abraham took the knife in his hand, a high clear 
call came ringing over the mountain, a call that 
seemed to drop straight from the sky. 

Abraham! Abraham!’ came the call. 

“ The shepherd-king, still with the knife in his 
hand, began to tremble. Yet he answered 
bravely, ‘ Here am I! ’ 

“ Then the angel of the Lord said, ‘ Lay not 
thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any¬ 
thing unto him! For now I know that thou fear- 
est God, seeing that thou hast not withheld thy 
son, thine only son.’ 

47 

4 — Unde Jim's Stories from Old Testament. 


THE VOICE IN THE NIGHT 


“ Abraham was oh! so glad and happy that 
little Isaac was saved. So now he unbound the 
child, and lifted him to the ground, and they 
gave thanks together. And then Abraham 
lifted up his eyes, and looked, and lo! behind him 
was a ram — one of the wild mountain sheep — 
caught in a thicket by his horns. So Abraham 
went and took the ram, and offered it up for a 
burnt-offering in place of his son. 

“ Abraham called the name of that place 
4 Jehovah-jireh/ which means 4 God will see, or 
provide.’ 

“ Long afterwards, on the two hills of Zion and 
Moriah was built the city of Jerusalem, where 
Christ taught in the Temple, and showed the 
glory of God. But, once upon a time, Moriah 
had been just the great wooded hill where the 
angel saved little Isaac, and told his earthly 
father of the watchful love of the Father of 
Heaven. 

“ The angel called to Abraham out of heaven 
a second time, after the ram had been offered up, 
and told him how pleased God was with him 
for his faithful obedience, and because he had not 
held back his one little son, Isaac. And the angel 
repeated the promise God had made to Abraham 
before Isaac was born, that his children and 

48 


THE VOICE IN THE NIGHT 

grandchildren and great-grandchildren should be 
as many as the stars of the Heaven or as the 
sand upon the seashore.” 

As the story came to a close, Betty brushed a 
hand across her eyes, and Dick drew a long breath 
of relief. 

“How beautiful!” she exclaimed. “What a 
wonderful story. You never told us a more won¬ 
derful one. Did Isaac know, Uncle Jim — did 
he know what Abraham was about to do? ” she 
asked a little tremulously. 

“ When his father bound and placed him on 
the altar, he must have known, for he undoubt¬ 
edly had seen many sacrifices before that,” re¬ 
plied Uncle Jim. “ And if he did know, his faith, 
too, must have been very great, young as he 
was.” 

“ Oh, what a splendid boy Isaac must have 
been,” cried Betty enthusiastically. 

“ Yes, he was,” agreed Uncle Jim. “ Dick, I 
have asked what you would do were you in 
Abraham’s place. I’ll now ask what you would 
do were you in Isaac’s place? ” 

“I — I think I should run away,” answered 
Dick hesitatingly. 

“No, no, Dick!” cried Mrs. Burroughs. “I 
know better than that. You are not the kind 


49 


THE VOICE IN THE NIGHT 


of boy that runs away. Instead, you would face 
the music like the man you really are.” 

“ Uncle Jim, would you sacrifice Dick that way 
if God told you to do so? ” demanded Betty 
wonderingly. 

Betty’s pointed question seemed to take Uncle 
Jim back. He was at a loss for an answer, and 
his face took on a troubled expression. 

“ Would you? ” persisted Betty, fixing her blue 
eyes on Uncle Jim’s face. 

“ Betty, how does one know what one would 
do in such a moment as that? ” he replied. “ I 
should hope that my faith in God were great 
enough to enable me to obey the command of the 
Master. Fortunately, God asks no such sacri¬ 
fices of us now, but he does demand lesser sacri¬ 
fices, little ones, indeed, when compared with the 
great one he demanded of Abraham. 

“ So, all the more eager should we be to make 
these little sacrifices, willingly and happily. Sup¬ 
pose we all begin doing this now. Yes, let us 
begin to-morrow. What do you say, children? ” 

“ Yes,” promised Betty and Dick in one voice. 

“ Then run along to bed, you two, and give me 
an opportunity to chat with your mother,” added 
Uncle Jim briskly. “ I think I have given you 
something to think about between now and our 

50 


THE VOICE IN THE NIGHT 


next meeting. In the morning we shall have 
something to say on the same subject.” 

“ What about the next story? ” questioned 
Dick, as he and Betty dutifully got up to start 
for bed. 

“ Yes, Uncle Jim, please tell us what it is to be 
about,” urged Betty. “ If you don’t, I shan’t 
sleep a wink to-night,” she threatened laugh¬ 
ingly. 

“ Very well. You know I shouldn’t like to 
have my little Betty lie awake all night when a 
word from her Uncle Jim would give her sweet 
dreams. The title of the next story will be, 
‘ When the Sheaves Stood Up, the Story of 
Joseph and His Brothers.’ Good-night, children.” 


WHEN THE SHEAVES STOOD UP 


THE STORY OF JOSEPH AND HIS BROTHERS 

4 4 \\ 7*HAT are sheaves, Uncle Jim? ” asked 
Betty when Uncle Jim came in and sat 
down to tell them another story. Betty had been 
thinking of the title announced by Uncle Jim the 
day before, and she had been wondering what 
sheaves were, never before having heard of them. 

“ Dick, I think, knows,” nodded Uncle Jim, and 
Dick nodded in reply. 

“ Well, please tell me,” insisted Betty. 

“ Sheaves? ” said Uncle Jim. “ Have you never 
seen reapers in the wheat fields cutting the golden 
grain — seen the bundles, bound at the middle 
like an hour-glass? ” 

“ Yes, I have, Uncle.” 

“ Those bundles are called sheaves, and they are 
strewn along on the ground behind the reapers, 
until other men come and stand them up to 
prevent their getting wet and sprouting. They 
stand the sheaves up in bunches called shocks,” 
explained Uncle Jim. “ When the grain is being 

52 


WHEN THE SHEAVES STOOD UP 


garnered you will see shocks all over the field, and 
it is a pretty sight to look upon.” 

“Yes, Father, but what made the sheaves that 
you are going to tell us about stand up? ” ques¬ 
tioned Dick. 

“ Son, don’t get impatient. Don’t you two 
children wish to hear the story? If not I’ll not 
tell it.” 

“ Yes, yes,” cried Dick and Betty in chorus. 

“ Very well, then, give me your attention and X 
will begin. 

“You remember that Isaac had married a 
beautiful woman named Rebekah, who made him 
very happy. You can read all about her and her 
marriage in the Bible; and also about her son 
Jacob, and his wife Rachel, with whom he fell 
deeply in love when he met her bringing her 
father’s sheep to drink at a well. Now I am 
going to tell you the story of Jacob’s and Rachel’s 
two sons, who were called Joseph and Benjamin, 
and were bom when Jacob was growing into an 
old man. 

“ Jacob had another name, Israel, which means 
‘ a prince of God.’ Abraham, too, had been called 
God’s prince once, by some people known as the 
children of Heth, who had sold him a field for a 
burying-place. For people from many nations 

S3 


WHEN THE SHEAVES STOOD UP 


owned land in Canaan, and built cities there, 
long ago destroyed and forgotten, like that 
mysterious city of Salem, on the hill opposite 
Mount Moriah. But the shepherd-princes — 
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — built no cities. 
They moved from place to place with their ser¬ 
vants, and their great flocks of sheep and cattle; 
and sometimes, where they spread their tents, 
they bought the land from the kings. These 
kings did not worship God in the same way that 
the shepherds did — but they had respect for the 
shepherds, and would always sell a piece of land 
to those of them with whom they were friendly.” 

“ Why did the people live in tents instead of 
building houses for themselves? ” wondered Dick. 

“ First, because they preferred tents, and second 
because they were wanderers,” said Uncle Jim. 

“ Were they gypsies? ” asked Betty. 

“ Something like that,” smiled Uncle Jim. 
“ We will now go on with our story; then if you 
wish to ask other questions I will try to answer 
them. 

“ Well, Jacob, whose other name was Israel, 
moved about with his flocks and his servants, 
and at last, when Joseph was a boy and Benja¬ 
min quite a tiny baby, he settled down in the very 
spot where his grandfather Abraham had spread 

54 


WHEN THE SHEAVES STOOD UP 

his tents long, long ago. This was, you re¬ 
member, among the green fields of Mamre, in 
Hebron; and Abraham and Isaac were both 
buried there. Rachel was dead, too. But, for 
her sweet sake, Jacob loved Joseph and Benja¬ 
min far better than the sons of Leah, who had 
been his first wife. 

“ He could not help loving Joseph, the son of 
his old age; for Joseph was a bright clever lad, 
and had a warm, kind heart for tiny Benjamin. 
One day, to show how highly he thought of 
Joseph, and that he meant this younger son to 
be a mighty chief, Jacob gave the boy a beauti¬ 
ful new coat. It was made in many colors, and it 
floated about him like the cloak of a great prince, 
as he walked on the hills with his long shepherd’s 
staff in his hand. When his brothers saw Joseph 
in this gleaming coat they were angry and jeal¬ 
ous, and would not speak kindly to him at all. 

“ Now, one night, Joseph had a strange dream 
and he ran to his brothers to tell them about it. 

“‘Hear!’ he said. ‘ Hear, I pray you, this 
dream that I have dreamed. 

“ ‘ Behold, we were binding sheaves in a field, 
and lo! my sheaf arose, and stood upright! And 
behold, your sheaves stood up, too, all around, 
and bent down before my sheaf! ’ ” 

55 


WHEN THE SHEAVES STOOD UP 


“ But, Uncle, what made them stand up? ” 
begged Betty. 

“ They didn't really do so. Don’t you under¬ 
stand? Joseph only dreamed that they stood up, 
and he could not help thinking that it was a 
very wonderful dream. You would have thought 
so, too. Joseph believed in dreams and he knew 
that his dream had a meaning,” explained Uncle 
Jim. 

“ Picture it to yourselves: the sunlit field of 
corn; the big sheaves lying upon the ground, 
with all the brothers binding them ready to be 
put into the stack. And then imagine Joseph’s 
sheaf rising up, and the brothers’ sheaves doing 
the same, and bending in homage to Joseph’s 
sheaf, while everybody in the cornfield stood 
silent and amazed! 

“ But his brothers were angry. ‘ Shalt thou 
indeed reign over us? ’ they said. And they 
hated him the more. 

“ Then Joseph had a second dream. He 
dreamed he was alone in the deep sky, and be¬ 
hold! the sun and the moon and eleven stars did 
reverence to him. This time he told the dream 
to his father, as well as to his brothers, but his 
father rebuked him, and said: 

“ ‘ What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? 

56 


WHEN THE SHEAVES STOOD UP 


Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed 
come to bow down ourselves to thee? ’ 

“ But, although Jacob rebuked Joseph, he 
thought about the dream. The eleven brothers, 
however, now disliked Joseph more than ever. 

“ Some time before this Jacob had bought a 
large piece of land on the other side of Mount 
Moriah; a place called Shechem, where he had 
sunk a deep well. Soon after Joseph had dreamed 
his strange dreams, the eleven brothers went on 
a journey to Shechem, where their father had a 
lot of sheep and cattle out at pasture. Jacob, 
who, as you know, was now an old man, stayed 
behind in Hebron: but one day he called 
Joseph, and told him to go to Shechem and see 
how his brothers and the flocks were faring. 

“ So Joseph set off on his travels, which would 
take him past that very mountain where Abra¬ 
ham and Isaac had heard the voice of the angel 
many years before. But when, after four or five 
days, he got to Shechem, he saw only the 
wide rolling pastures looking lonely and empty 
in the sunshine. The big stone was before the 
mouth of the well, and no flocks lay round it, 
as they always lay in the morning and the even¬ 
ing, waiting for the shepherds to roll away the 
stone and fill the long troughs with water from 

57 


WHEN THE SHEAVES STOOD UP 

their goat-skin buckets. There was nobody but 
one man, a solitary wanderer like Joseph him¬ 
self. This man told him that his brothers had 
taken the flocks to new feeding-grounds, a little 
farther on. 

“ So Joseph went in the direction of the place 
the man had described; and presently, in the 
distance, he saw the clustered tents, and heard 
the soft bleating of the sheep, and the lowing 
of the cattle. He hurried forward to greet his 
brothers. But they had seen him afar off, and 
they hated him as much as ever. 

“ ‘ Behold this dreamer cometh! ’ they said 
mockingly. ‘ Let us kill him and throw him 
into some pit. We can say that a wild beast has 
devoured him! And then we shall see what 
becomes of his dreams! ’ 

“ But one of the brothers, Reuben, was kinder 
than the rest. He felt that he must save Joseph’s 
life. So he suggested that they should throw him 
into a pit, but should not spill his blood. And 
he thought that, when the others were gone, he 
would come back and rescue the boy, and send 
him home to his father. 

“ So when Joseph, pleased and proud after his 
journey, came eagerly to greet his brothers, they 
took hold of him roughly, stripped his beautiful 

58 


WHEN THE SHEAVES STOOD UP 


coat from his shoulders, and threw him into an 
empty pit near by. Then they sat down to eat 
their supper. 

“ As they were eating, there came, stepping 
slowly and proudly down the distant road, a long 
procession of camels, sending out their soft 
shadows over the ground, and showing like a 
wonderful dark picture against the clear blue 
sky. On the backs of the camels were big loads, 
that held spices and balm and myrrh. The 
camels were coming from Gilead, which was a 
grassy country on the other side of the river 
Jordan, and had very many kinds of plants grow¬ 
ing in the rich soil. The men to whom the camels 
belonged were a company of Ishmaelites, grand¬ 
children and great-grandchildren of Ishmael and 
his Egyptian wife, conquerors and princes of the 
desert, who traveled up and down its long 
stretches, carrying spices and gums to sell in 
Egypt, and bringing back fine silk and cotton in 
return. 

“ Then Judah, another brother, said, ‘ Let us 
not slay our brother, but let us sell him to these 
travelers for a slave. For he is our brother 
and our flesh/ 

“ The brothers agreed to this, and they drew 
Joseph up again out of the pit, and sold him to 

59 


WHEN THE SHEAVES STOOD UP 


the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. So 
the loved young son of Israel was taken away by 
the Ishmaelites, seated on one of the big brown 
camels. And the procession, with the strange 
sweet song of the drivers, and the ceaseless tink¬ 
ling of the bridle bells, passed away from the 
meadows of Shechem, where the wild flowers 
blossomed and the sheep and cattle fed; and went 
swinging away towards the great desert trail 
that led down to Egypt, along the very road 
where Hagar had wept over Ishmael in the wil¬ 
derness on the way to Shur. 

“ But when Reuben, who had not been there 
when Joseph was sold, went to the pit and found 
that the lad was gone, he rent his clothes for 
grief. Then the cruel brothers killed a kid, 
dipped poor Joseph's fine coat in it, and took the 
coat, all covered with blood, back to Hebron, and 
showed it to Jacob, telling him that they had 
found it. And Jacob, like Reuben, rent his 
clothes and wept. 

“ ‘ An evil beast has devoured my young son 
Joseph,' he said. 1 1 shall go down mourning to 
my grave.' 

“ But, all the time, Joseph was safe with the 
traders on the big camels, and the Ishmaelites, 
when they reached Egypt, sold him to a rich man 

60 


WHEN THE SHEAVES STOOD UP 


called Potiphar, who was an officer under Pha¬ 
raoh, a great Egyptian king.” 

“ Oh, I’m so glad that they didn’t kill Joseph,” 
cried Betty as the story came to a close. 

“ They would have done so had it not been for 
Reuben, who pleaded for his life,” Uncle Jim 
informed her. 

“ Just the same, his brothers were very cruel 
when they took off his beautiful coat and threw 
him into the pit. Oh, what a horrid thing to do 
to one’s brother,” said Betty. 

“ Perhaps it was all a part of God’s great 
plan,” suggested Uncle Jim. 

Dick asked why the eleven brothers disliked 
Joseph so. 

“ One reason is that they were jealous because 
he was Jacob’s favorite son. No doubt you know 
of families right here at home where there is 
jealousy for the same reason. Then again, as 
you already have heard, Joseph was a bright, 
clever lad whom most persons loved at sight. 
The present of the coat of many colors showed 
the brothers still more how much Jacob loved 
the boy, and this filled them with jealous anger 
and they determined to get rid of their brother, 
which they did.” 

“ After doing that did they really sit down 

61 


WHEN THE SHEAVES STOOD UP 


and eat their supper, Uncle Jim? ” questioned 
Betty. 

“ Yes, so the Bible says.” 

u It doesn’t seem possible,” she murmured. 

“ Are there any further questions? ” asked 
Uncle Jim, his eyes twinkling. 

“ Yes,” spoke up Dick. “ I should like to 
know why Joseph did not resist. Did he let the 
Ishmaelites carry him off without trying to get 
away from them, Father? ” 

“ It seems so. But Joseph had a very good 
reason for not defending himself. He knew that, 
in the hands of so many, he was helpless, and 
that not even his own brothers would help him," 
said Uncle Jim. 

“ What happened to him after that, Uncle? ” 
asked Betty. 

“ Well, Little Blue Eyes, that is another story,” 
was Uncle Jim’s laughing reply. “ It is a story 
that I will tell you some other time, perhaps this 
afternoon. It is a story of many wonderful in¬ 
cidents, and — But there! I’ll be telling you all 
about it if I keep on. Let me see — I think we 
will call the next story, ‘ The Dream Man, the 
Story of Joseph and Pharaoh.’ ” 


62 


THE DREAM MAN 

THE STORY OF JOSEPH AND PHARAOH 


NCLE JIM BURROUGHS leaned back in 



V_J his chair after finishing his dinner, and drew 
a long breath of contentment. 

“ Margaret,” he said, speaking to Betty’s 
mother, “ I think I will go out for a walk and —” 

“ Uncle! ” cried Betty, slipping up behind 
Uncle Jim and clasping both arms about his 
neck. 

“ Well? What is it? ” he asked. 

“ The Dream Man, Uncle. Surely you are not 
going out until after you have told us about 
Joseph and Pharaoh,” persisted Betty. 

Uncle Jim sighed deeply. 

“ Can’t I have a moment’s peace? ” he 
demanded laughingly, as Dick also pounced upon 
him. 

“ Not one, single little moment,” cried Betty. 

“ We want the Dream Man, Father,” added 


Dick 


“ Please, please, Uncle Jim,” begged Betty. 

63 


0 — Uncle Jim'a Stories from Old Testament. 


THE DREAM MAN 


Uncle Jim glanced over at Mrs. Burroughs, and 
the two smiled into each other’s eyes. 

“ Oh, very well, children. I will tell it right 
here at the table if you will sit down in your places 
and give me an opportunity to breathe. After¬ 
wards Betty must help Mother with the dishes, 
'and I’ll take my walk while that is being done.” 

Betty and Dick quickly released their grip on 
Uncle Jim’s neck and seated themselves at the 
table, as Mrs. Burroughs poured another cup of 
tea for herself and settled back to listen. Uncle 
Jim then took a sip of water and began: 

“ Let me see! Children, where did we leave 
Joseph? ” 

“ On a camel,” answered Betty quickly. 

“ Just so. He was on his way to Egypt with 
the Ishmaelites. He reached Egypt after many 
days’ journey, and entered upon his new life there 
with Potiphar as his master. What a change 
that must have been for Joseph, and how he must 
have grieved, especially for the father who loved 
him so well. Joseph had never been so far from 
home before, which made his loneliness all the 
greater and his heart more sad. 

“ Potiphar, his master, soon saw that there 
was something fine and upright in the doings of 
the young shepherd from Canaan; he saw, too, 

64 


THE DREAM MAN 


that he was clever and clear-headed. And, as 
time went on, he gave him a great deal of au¬ 
thority, and let him have almost full charge of 
all his money and goods. But one day a false 
and cruel story was told to Potiphar about the 
youth he trusted. Potiphar believed it, and, in 
his anger, put Joseph into the King’s prison, over 
which, as Pharaoh’s chief officer, he had command. 

“But, even in prison, Joseph made friends; 
the very keeper of the prison soon began to trust 
him, just as Potiphar had done. The lad was so 
fearless and honest and upright that everybody 
saw he followed the ways of the true God. And 
what interested all the Egyptians about him very 
much was that he could explain the meaning of 
dreams. 

“ Among his fellow-prisoners at one time were 
Pharaoh’s chief butler and chief baker, who had 
both been put in prison for wrong-doing. They 
had strange dreams, one night, and Joseph told 
them what the dreams meant. That of the but¬ 
ler ended happily — Joseph told him it meant 
that the King would forgive him. And, surely 
enough, after a few days Pharaoh sent for his 
servant, pardoned him, and gave him back his 
old place in the royal household. 

“ Well, after a little time had passed, Pharaoh 

65 


THE DREAM MAN 


himself had a curious dream. He thought he 
saw seven fine fat kine feeding in a meadow. 
Then up out of the river came seven thin kine, 
looking, oh! so strange as they rose from the 
waters! And they ate all the fat kine up! ” 

“ What are kine? ” interrupted Betty. 

“ Cows,” Uncle Jim informed her. 

“ And did a cow eat a cow? ” wondered Dick. 
“ Yes. You will find it so written in the Bible. 
“ Pharaoh awoke, wondering. But by and by 
he fell asleep again. And again he dreamed. 
This time he saw seven ears of corn, yellow and 
full, upon one stalk. Then another stalk, with 
seven thin, wind-blasted ears, sprang up along¬ 
side. And the thin ears ate the good ears up. 

“ In the morning the King sent for his magi¬ 
cians and asked the meaning of his dreams; but 
they could not tell him. Then the chief butler 
remembered Joseph in the prison, and told 
Pharaoh about the Canaanite shepherd who could 
explain dreams. So the King sent for Joseph in 
haste. And Joseph stood before this mighty ruler 
of Egypt and explained what the dream meant. 

“ c Both dreams are one/ he said. ‘ The seven 
kine and the seven ears of wheat each mean 
seven years. And by these dreams God has 
shown Pharaoh that there shall be, first, seven 

66 


THE DREAM MAN 


years of plentiful harvests in Egypt, and then 
seven years of famine. And the grievous fam¬ 
ine shall eat up the time of plenty. God has 
shown Pharaoh the King what He means to do. 
So let the King look out for a discreet and wise 
man, and give him power to store up the harvests 
of the good years ready for the days of want/ 

“ Then Pharaoh answered Joseph: ‘Foras¬ 
much as God hath showed thee all this, there is 
none so discreet and wise as thou art. See! I 
have set thee over all the land of Egypt! ’ 

“ He placed his own ring on Joseph’s hand, put 
a gold chain round his neck, and gave him clothes 
to wear that were even more beautiful than the 
coat of many colors of long ago.” 

a Did Joseph read the dream right — did the 
things he promised, come to pass? ” demanded 
Dick. 

“ Son, you don’t wish me to tell the story back¬ 
wards, do you? ” answered Uncle Jim laughingly.. 
“Your question will be answered soon if you 
will but give me an opportunity to tell the 
story.” 

“ It must be wonderful to read dreams,’" 
breathed Betty. “ How could Joseph do it? ” 

“ If you have finished, I will go on with the 
story,” finally announced Uncle Jim after a mo- 

67 


THE DREAM MAN 


ment of patient waiting, which in itself was a 
rebuke which was not lost on Dick and Betty. 
“ As I was about to say, Joseph was given power 
to store up the harvests during the seven years 
of plenty, and, when the days of famine came, 
to give out the corn. And, in those sad and 
hungry days, a most strange and wonderful thing 
happened. 

“ Jacob, his old father, sent the brothers of 
Joseph down into Egypt to buy corn! 

“ You see, the famine was in the land of Ca¬ 
naan, too, but news came there that the Egyp¬ 
tians, under the wise guardianship of a good and 
discreet man, had stored a lot of corn and would 
sell it to other nations. So Jacob sent his ten 
sons to buy. But Benjamin, his youngest, who 
had taken the place of Joseph in his love, he 
would not trust to leave him. 

“ So the ten brothers came to Joseph in his 
palace, and bowed down before him, just as the 
sheaves of corn had bowed down in the dream, 
long, long ago, and begged him to sell them food. 

“When Joseph saw them, the memory of Ca¬ 
naan, and of his shepherd-father, and of his 
brother Benjamin, rushed over him. And he 
had to turn away from them to weep. But the 
brothers had no idea that this rich and splendid 

68 


THE DREAM MAN 


man, dressed like an Egyptian, was the lad they 
had sold to the Ishmaelites in the days of old. 

“ So Joseph let them have some corn, although? 
he pretended to mistrust them. He questioned 
them roughly, and heard that they had a younger 
brother called Benjamin. And he told them that; 
next time they came they must bring Benjamin 
with them, or he would not sell them anything 
at all. Yet, when they went away, he had all 
their money put back into the tops of their sacks 
of corn. 

“ The famine was very bad in Canaan, and, 
once again, Jacob told his sons to go and buy food 
in Egypt. But they said it was of no use to go 
without Benjamin. At last, after long persua¬ 
sion, and because Judah, one of the brothers, 
promised the boy should be safe, Jacob let his 
beloved youngest son go. 

“ So the brothers set off, with money and 
presents — balm, honey, spices, myrrh, nuts and 
almonds. And they took Benjamin with them. 

“ Joseph, when he heard that they were in 
Egypt again, had them brought to his own house, 
and prepared a banquet for them. Then Judah 
brought Benjamin and presented him to Joseph. 
After a minute or two of gazing upon his 
younger brother’s face, Joseph was obliged to 

69 


THE DREAM MAN 


go away by himself again, and to weep for love 
and joy. 

“ Well, they all sat down to the banquet, and 
Joseph was at the master’s table, by himself. 
But he kept sending nice dishes to his brothers, 
who, to their great surprise, found themselves 
placed at table according to their ages. The 
nicest of all dishes were sent to Benjamin, and 
he had five times as much as any of his brothers. 
When the brothers went away with their corn, 
Joseph again had their money put into the tops 
of their sacks. But in Benjamin’s sack he put 
not only money, but his own beautiful silver cup. 

" Then he sent servants after them, to say that 
"his silver cup had been stolen, and that, whoever 
had hidden it in his sack, must come back and be 
his slaves And behold! the cup was found in 
the sack that belonged to Benjamin! 

“ So they all came back to Joseph’s house, and 
fell on their faces before him; and Judah begged 
that Benjamin should be released, and offered 
to become a slave in his stead. 

“ Then Joseph could bear it no longer. He 
sent all the Egyptians away, and told his brothers 
that he was Joseph, the son of their own father, 
Jacob or Israel. And he bade them fetch their 
father to Egypt, and promised that Pharaoh the 

70 


THE DREAM MAN 

King, his master, would be very good to them 
all. 

“With great joy they went back to Canaan 
and brought Jacob, the old man, to see his son, 
who was alive and found again. 

“So, once more, Jacob embraced Joseph, the 
son of his old age. And he was presented to the 
mighty Egyptian King, who bent low before the 
aged shepherd-king to receive his blessing. 
Pharaoh then gave the children of Jacob the land 
of Goshen, in which to feed their flocks. And 
this land, where the grass was sweet and good, 
with palm-trees waving above the corn-fields, 
and the river Nile flowing through the meadows, 
belonged to the Israelites and their children and 
grandchildren for many, many years.” 

“ What a wonderful man Joseph must have 
been! ” cried Betty, her blue eyes deep and dark. 

“ I don’t think it was very nice of him, though, 
to put the silver cup in Benjamin’s sack, then 
have his brother taken as a thief. I really didn’t 
think it of Joseph,” objected Dick. 

“He was wonderful just the same,” answered 
Betty with spirit. “ I won’t let you say a single 
word against Joseph.” 

“ Joseph did this for a purpose. It was the 
fulfillment of his dream, Dick, and it was to im- 

n 


THE DREAM MAN 


press his brothers of his full forgiveness for the 
wrongs they had done to him,” explained Uncle 
Jim. “ You have heard how wonderfully he pro¬ 
vided for them through King Pharaoh who gave 
the land of Goshen to the children of Jacob.” 

“ Did King Pharaoh really see Joseph’s father 
and brothers? ” asked Betty. 

“ Yes, Blue Eyes. Did I not tell you so? ” 

“ Pharaoh showed himself a pretty good sort 
after all, didn’t he, Father? ” suggested Dick. 

“ He surely did, but a Pharaoh who came after 
him was not a good man, and caused the descen¬ 
dants of Jacob a great deal of trouble and 
unhappiness.” 

“ Tell us about it,” purred Betty. 

“ That is all, children. I am going for a walk. 
Don’t you two dare say story to me again 
to-day — ” 

“ Oh, tell us about Moses, won’t you? ” 
begged Betty. “ What shall we call the story? ” 

“ Well,” reflected Uncle Jim, stroking his 
chin, “ I think we will call the next story, ‘ The 
Beautiful Princess, the Story of the Babe in the 
Bulrushes.’ ” 

“ Oh, goodie, goodie! ” cried the little yellow¬ 
haired girl, dancing about and clapping her hands, 
and Uncle Jim strode out chuckling to himself. 

72 


THE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS 


THE STORY OF THE BABE IN 
THE BULRUSHES 

H "IT THERE is Uncle Jim?” cried Betty as 
V V she came running downstairs next 
morning, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. 

Betty was late. After being called for break¬ 
fast she had turned over for just one wee little 
kitten-nap, such as she always loved to take 
after her mother had called her for breakfast. 

“ Oh, Mother dear, I am so sorry that I’m late. 
Where is Uncle Jim — and Dick? ” 

“ I don’t know, Betty. I haven’t seen them 
since breakfast,” answered Mrs. Burroughs. 
“ Uncle Jim said he guessed you didn’t care about 
‘ The Beautiful Princess ’ this morning, so he and 
Dick went out, I don’t know where.” 

“ I am sorry, Mother dear,” she sobbed. “ I 
didn’t mean to do it, but I just couldn’t help it. 
I know that Uncle Jim is trying to teach me a 
lesson, and I deserve it, too. But I did so wish 
to hear — ” 


73 


THE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS 


“To hear what?” questioned the laughing 
voice of Uncle Jim, as he stepped into the house, 
followed closely by Dick. 

Betty was in his arms in an instant. 

“I thought you were getting tired of my 
stories, Betty,” said Uncle Jim. 

“ No, no,” protested Betty. 

“ So I told Dick we wouldn’t have any story 
this morning— There, there. Don’t cry,” he 
begged as Betty again gave way to tears. “ Run 
along and get your breakfast. Then we will see 
what can be done,” said Uncle Jim in the sooth¬ 
ing, gentle tone that she so loved to hear. 

“ I don’t wish any breakfast. I want ‘ The 
Beautiful Princess,’ ” pleaded the little yellow¬ 
haired girl. “ Won’t you please forgive me for 
being late, and tell us the story? You know 
you promised,” she urged, tugging at a button¬ 
hole of his coat. 

Uncle Jim pondered for a moment, stroking his 
grave and thoughtful face with one hand, the 
other toying lightly with the yellow curls of 
Betty’s head. 

“ Go eat your breakfast; then we will meet 
‘ The Beautiful Princess,’ ” he promised. 

“You darling old Uncle,” cried Betty, brush¬ 
ing her eyes as she ran to the breakfast room. 

74 


THE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS 


Betty Burroughs did not take her usual time 
to eat that morning. A little later she bounced 
into the parlor, and announcing that she was 
ready, threw herself down at Uncle Jim’s feet, 
her favorite position when listening to his won¬ 
derful stories of the Bible. There was a twinkle 
in Uncle Jim’s eyes as he began his story. 

“ The good King Pharaoh that I have told 
you about,” he said, “ died, and then Joseph died, 
and after a long, long time another Pharaoh came 
to the throne of Egypt, who knew nothing about 
Joseph, and who became frightened when he saw 
what a great number of Israelites had grown up 
in Goshen, and how rich and clever they were, 
and how they worshiped a wonderful, powerful, 
unseen God, quite different from the gods of the 
Egyptians. And when the new Pharaoh began to 
think about this he called his ministers to him 
and told them of his fears. 

“ ‘ Look at all these Hebrew men and women 
who call themselves the children of Israel,’ he 
said. ‘Who was Israel? I do not know. Do 
you? ’ 

“ The ministers looked at each other and shook 
their heads. They, also, had never heard of Joseph. 

“ ‘ Well, whoever he was, he was not an Egyp¬ 
tian,’ said the King. ‘He was a stranger who 

75 


THE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS 


came and settled here with his relatives, and they 
have grown into large families, and some day, if 
there is a war, they are quite likely to join the 
enemy, and become our masters. In order 
that they may never become our masters we 
must do the only wise thing and make them our 
servants.” 

“ ‘ And how, oh King, shall we do this? * asked 
the ministers. 

“ ‘ By forcing them to help to build my two 
beautiful treasure-cities — Pithom and Raamses/ 
said the King. 4 And by making them burn 
clay into bricks with which I may strengthen my 
great wall of Shur — the wall that keeps out those 
desert-princes and their followers, to whom I 
think the people of Israel must really belong. 
Go, and arrange with my other ministers that 
this shall be done! ’ 

“ So men called ‘ taskmasters* were put over 
the children of Israel, whose lives were made 
sadly cruel and hard. Once they had been the 
owners of everything in Goshen, and had lived 
happily and comfortably among their own be¬ 
longings, reaping their fields of corn, gathering 
their crops of dates, and taking care of their flocks 
of sheep and goats. But now they were no 
longer their own masters; they had to work very 

76 


THE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS 


Lard for the Egyptians; and, if they worked 
slowly and unwillingly, were driven with whips. 
Very likely some of them had to live, too, in poor 
little villages built of clay, where their wives, 
who had once been able to keep servants, must 
have been most unhappy. Yet, in spite of this, 
such a lot of sturdy boys and girls were born 
in the poor little homes that Pharaoh said that 
the Israelites were still a danger, and that all the 
little boy-babies must be thrown into the river 
Nile, though the little girl-babies, who could 
never be soldiers when they were grown-up, 
might be allowed to live.” 

“ Oh, Uncle! You don’t mean that he intended 
to drown those helpless little babies, do you? ” 
cried Betty. 

“Yes. That was Pharaoh’s intention, so that 
in a few years there would be no Israelite men 
capable of fighting,” answered Uncle Jim. 

“Oh, what a cruel King! How could he do 
such a terrible thing? ” exclaimed the little girl. 

“ Yes. It was, indeed, a terrible thing for the 
Israelites, but they had no power to prevent it. 
Two kind women — one called Shiphrah, which 
means beauty in English, and the other called 
Puah, which means splendor — tried to save 
the babies, but all the rest of the Egyptians were 

77 


THE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS 

only too eager to please the cruel King. So 
whenever they heard of a little Israelite boy be¬ 
ing bom, they hurried to the father’s home, 
dragged the poor mite from its mother, and 
took it away and threw it into the river. This 
was the last and most terrible trial of all. And 
almost every day the men of the Israelites, as 
they went to work past the sad women in the 
early morning, would try to shut their ears to 
the sobbing of the poor mothers inside the tents 
or houses, who had lost their sweet little baby- 
boys. 

“ Then one day an Israelite named Amram, 
who belonged to a family called Levi, married a 
woman of the same family or tribe whose name 
was Jochebed, which, some people think, means 
‘ God is glorious.’ Amram and Jochebed lived 
among their own people in Goshen, where the 
palms grew, perhaps in a tent, or perhaps in a 
little clay house. You could see the towers of 
the great city called Raamses not very far away, 
and see, too, the distant sails of the big boats 
that sailed up and down the river Nile as they 
do to-day. Such strange sails they were! Some¬ 
times white, and sometimes red, and always 
sloping to one side as if they were blown by a 
high wind. Near the river were the waving 

78 













































































THE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS 


fields of barley, and overhead was the hot, wide, 
blue sky. 

“ Well, as time went on, a little daughter was 
born to Amram and Jochebed, whom they called 
Miriam. She grew up into a very clever and 
sensible little girl, but she must always have been 
rather sad, for she would see her father go off 
every morning to work for the Egyptians, while 
all round her in the sorrowful homes were the 
poor mothers whose boy-babies had been 
snatched from them and thrown into the cruel 
waters of the Nile. And then at last, one day, 
Jochebed had a little boy-baby herself! 

“ He was such a beautiful baby — soft and fat 
and round, with a sort of sun-burned look all over 
his satiny skin, and a lot of little curls on his head, 
and eyes like diamonds. 

“ How Miriam loved the baby! How terrified 
she was lest he should be taken from them — how 
thankful and glad when Jochebed said she was 
going to save the beautiful child if she possibly 
could. Earnestly Miriam helped her mother to 
hide the baby; and, for three months, nobody 
guessed that he was in the little house. Perhaps 
the neighbors, who were Israelites, suspected 
something, but they never told. And he grew 
big and strong and lovelier than ever. And 

79 

6 — Uncle Jim's Stories from Old Testament. 


THE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS 


then one day the mother told Miriam that she 
was afraid they could not hide him any more, 
and would have to trust him entirely to the care 
of God. 

“ Now, in the land of Egypt, even in these 
days, the peasant women are able to swim across 
the Nile when they want to go from one side to 
the other. And, if a mother has to take her 
baby with her, she puts the little one into a kind 
of basket made of bulrushes and smeared with a 
sort of gum to keep out the water. Then she 
shuts the lid very carefully, slides the basket into 
the river, and swims across, pushing the basket 
in front of her, for all the world like a safe and 
cosy little boat.” 

“ Was that not a risky thing to do, Father? ” 
asked Dick. “ I don't see how the babies could 
help swallowing a good deal of water. I can’t 
even swim without getting a lot of it in my 
mouth.” 

“ Don’t you understand, Dick? The basket 
floated on the surface of the river. If it was 
properly gummed, not a drop of water could reach 
the baby, who, we may suppose, cooed and played 
with his little brown toes all the way across the 
blue waters of the great river. I’ll warrant, 
Betty, that your big father gets wetter in his big 

80 


THE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS 


ship every time he crosses the ocean,” chuckled 
Uncle Jim. 

“ I don’t like to think of it any more than I 
like to think of those dear little babies,” mur¬ 
mured Betty. 

“ So Jochebed took one of these baskets — 
arks, they are called” — resumed Uncle Jim, 
“ and put her baby into it, and Miriam helped her 
to carry it down the sandy road and through the 
corn-fields and rice-fields, until they came to the 
river’s edge. Big tall reeds and grasses grew 
there, waving softly in the light of the afternoon 
sun. And, although the Bible does not describe 
it, we know that, just by the side of the water, 
was a specially prepared pool, with shady trees 
and floating lilies, in which the princess, who was 
Pharaoh’s daughter, used to come and bathe. It 
was close to this royal pool that Jochebed meant 
to leave the baby; and very quietly she put the 
basket down on the edge of the water among the 
waving reeds, then, with one long last look at the 
little one, she shut the lid and turned away. 

“ Miriam stayed behind to watch, while 
Jochebed walked steadily homewards with her 
eyes fixed on the sky. Somehow she knew that 
it was God who had shown her what to do 
with the baby, and who would send somebody 

81 



THE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS 


to take care of him, so that he should come to no 
harm. 

“ Miriam, meanwhile, hidden among the taller 
rushes, listened earnestly lest the baby should cry. 
But the baby was asleep. The sun sank lower 
and lower, and still the baby slept on. Then 
there came the sound of horses, and wheels, and 
men calling to the peasants to keep out of the 
way. Presently a sort of quietness fell, and 
women's laughter and voices floated over the 
water, and Miriam, peeping out, saw the Egyp¬ 
tian princess come down with her maidens to 
bathe in the royal pool, in the cool of the 
evening. 

“ As Miriam watched, she saw the princess 
begin to take off her beautiful robes and hand 
them to her attendants, some of whom remained 
near, while others walked along the bank. All 
at once the princess caught sight of the basket, 
and stopped undressing, in amazement. And 
she called to one of her maidens to bring the bas¬ 
ket to her. 

“ When it was brought, and the lid lifted, the 
baby woke. He saw strange faces round him, 
instead of those of Miriam and his mother, and 
he began to cry. The princess looked at him 
very pitifully and said: 


82 


THE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS 


“ * This is one of the Hebrew babies — he be¬ 
longs to the children of Israel/ 

“ As she said this she noticed that a little 
eager anxious girl had crept up and was watch¬ 
ing her earnestly. The princess, who was kind 
and good, smiled at the little girl, and then 
lifted the baby into her own arms. 

“ ‘ I think I shall have to adopt him/ she went 
on. ‘ But who will nurse him for me, if I do? 
I cannot take him home with me — but somehow 
I cannot leave him here.’ 

“ Then Miriam, breathless and eager-eyed, 
came a little closer. 

“ ‘ Shall I go and find a nurse among the 
Hebrew women?’ she asked very earnestly. 
‘ Some one who will nurse the baby for you? ’ 

“ The princess smiled again, and said, ‘ Go.’ 
And she stayed with the baby in her arms until 
Miriam hurried back, bringing with her Joche- 
bed herself! 

“Joehebed’s face was very happy and very 
quiet. She said nothing, but looked from the 
baby to the princess, and back from the princess 
to the baby. And then Pharaoh’s daughter said: 

“ ‘ Take this child away and nurse it for me, 
and I will give you your wages.’ 

“ Jochebed bent very low before the princess, 

83 


THE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS 


and took her own baby back into her arms. Then 
she and Miriam and the baby went home to¬ 
gether. 

“ So now they had no need to hide the little 
boy, for everybody knew that he was the adopted 
child of the daughter of the King. 

“ When he grew old enough to do without his 
mother’s daily care, Jochebed took him one day 
to show the princess what a fine lad he had be¬ 
come. Then Pharaoh’s daughter said he must 
be left with her altogether, to live now at the 
King’s palace, and to be like a son to her. And 
she said: 

“ ‘ I will call him Moses, which means “ drawn 
out,” because I drew him out of the water/ 

“ So Moses grew up in the very same wonder¬ 
ful King’s palace that had sheltered Joseph years 
ago. When he became a man he saved the chil¬ 
dren of Israel from the cruel Egyptian kings.” 

“ Pharaoh’s daughter must have been a very 
nice girl or she never would have gone to the 
bother of rescuing Moses from the rushes,” de¬ 
clared Betty admiringly as Uncle Jim came to the 
end of his story. “ What a beautiful story it is, 
Uncle Jim! ” 

“ Did the princess tell her father, the Kang, 
that she had adopted Moses? ” questioned Dick. 

84 


THE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS 


“ The Bible does not say so, but being such 
a lovely girl she undoubtedly did tell him, and in 
adopting Moses she not only saved the baby’s 
life, but also saved to the world a wonderful 
man, children. Of course it was God in his great 
wisdom who placed Moses in her hands.” 

“ Was it because Moses had been adopted by 
the King’s daughter, that he was not cast into 
the Nile? ” asked Betty. 

“ Yes. Of course. Cruel as they were, the 
Egyptians dared not harm the son of the King’s 
daughter, even if he were only an adopted son,” 
replied Uncle Jim. “ Some other time I will tell 
you more about this great man.” 

“ Tell us now,” insisted Betty. 

Uncle Jim shook his head. 

“ Next time, Betty dear. Then I will tell you 
about ‘ The River of Blood, the Story of Many 
Miracles,’ ” he said. 


THE RIVER OF BLOOD 


THE STORY OF MANY MIRACLES 

I T was not until the next day that Uncle Jim 
consented to tell the story that he had prom¬ 
ised. He declared that, at the rate he had been 
going, he soon would have no more stories to 
tell. In that event he said he would have to go 
home before he was really ready to do so. 

“ I don’t understand,” wondered Betty, regard¬ 
ing him with wide-open eyes. 

“ Father means that, were he to stay here with¬ 
out telling us Bible stories, he wouldn’t get a 
minute’s rest,” said Dick laughingly. “ He is 
right, too, isn’t he, Betty? ” 

Betty agreed with a nod. 

“ It doesn’t seem quite fair for you two chil¬ 
dren to take up so much of Uncle Jim’s time,” 
spoke up Mrs. Burroughs. “ I am sure he must 
get quite weary of so much story-telling.” 

“ That is only make-believe, Auntie,” declared 
Dick. “ Father just loves to tell us the wonder¬ 
ful Bible stories. He would be unhappy if he 

86 


THE RIVER OF BLOOD 


thought we did not care about them, wouldn’t 
you, Father? ” 

“ Say yes, you dear, beautiful old Uncle Jim,” 
teased Betty, running caressing fingers through 
Uncle Jim’s graying hair. 

“ Yes, yes,” agreed Uncle Jim with a laugh, 
in which Mrs. Burroughs joined heartily. “ I 
think I should have to agree to almost anything 
that you children demanded. We will now begin 
with the story. ‘ The River of Blood/ it is called. 

‘ The Story of Many Miracles.’ Do you children 
know what it is about? ” he asked, gazing into 
the expectant faces of Betty and Dick. 

Both children shook their heads. 

“ It is to be about Moses,” he told them. 

“ Goodie! ” cried Betty. “ I do so want to 
hear more about that wonderful baby.” 

“ At the time this story begins, Moses was no 
longer a baby; he was a full-grown man,” Uncle 
Jim informed them. 

“ It was many years after the incidents re¬ 
lated in yesterday’s story, that Moses might have 
been seen standing at the foot of a great moun¬ 
tain that rose out of the golden sands of the 
desert into the deep blue of the Eastern sky. 
Stretches of green pasture lay among the bare 
places; and here and there might be seen bushes 

87 


THE RIVER OF BLOOD 


of wild white broom. Little shepherd-boys wan¬ 
dered about with flocks of sheep, and plucked 
the broom-flowers to feed the ewes and lambs. 
The sheep belonged to Jethro, the Priest of Mid- 
ian, whose daughter Moses had married. For 
Moses had been obliged to flee from Pharaoh’s 
palace long, long ago. He had killed a man who 
was ill-treating one of the poor, oppressed Israel¬ 
ites, and he had been compelled to leave Egypt. 

“ So Moses, now the chief shepherd of Jethro’s 
sheep, stood a little way off from the flock, his 
long shepherd’s rod, or wand, in his hand. He 
was watching a strange sight. Not far from 
where he stood a thorny bush of pale acacia 
flowers was glowing with a great, clear, shining 
flame. Yet not a twig was scorched, nor did any 
ashes fall to the ground. The bunches of blos¬ 
som still lay delicately upon the spiked branches, 
fragrant and creamy-white, and the leaves made 
a pattern of golden green. How beautiful the 
flowers and foliage must have looked with the 
light of the mysterious flame glowing within the 
very heart of the little tree. 

“ While Moses wondered, a voice came from the 
brightness, and bade him take off his shoes, for 
he stood on holy ground. So Moses knew that he 
was in the presence of God. 

88 


THE RIVER OF BLOOD 


“ Then the voice gave a message of comfort for 
the sad Israelites in Egypt, and told Moses of a 
land flowing with milk and honey, the country 
of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who, God had 
promised, should be the fathers of a great nation. 

‘ They knew me by another name/ said the voice 
that spoke in the shining flame, ‘ but, from now, 
they shall know me as, I am that I am. Go and 
bring their children to me in this holy mountain, 
and tell them that Jehovah hath sent you to 
deliver them/ 

“ But Moses was afraid and said: ‘ Behold, 
they will not hearken unto me/ 

“ The voice answered: ‘ What is that in thine 
hand ?’ 

“ Moses said: ‘ A rod! ’ 

“ Then the voice came clear again from the 
flame: ‘ Cast it upon the ground! ’ 

“ Moses obeyed, and lo! the shepherd’s staff 
turned into a serpent. Moses started out of its 
way in terror. But the voice said: ‘ Put forth 
thine hand, and take it by the tail! ’ 

“ When Moses did so, the twisting serpent 
changed back into a wand again. And God told 
him to take his brother Aaron to help him, and 
to go and show this wonderful miracle to the 
Israelites and to Pharaoh, and say that the 

89 


THE RIVER OF BLOOD 


Lord Jehovah claimed the people of Israel for His 
own. 

“ So Moses set out for Egypt, with the wand 
of God in his hand.” 

“ I should think Moses would have been afraid 
to have the rod with him,” observed Dick. 

“ Just looking at it would have scared me very 
much,” agreed Betty. 

“ Not if you possessed faith and full trust 
in God,” reminded Uncle Jim. “ Moses had 
faith — a great and wonderful faith — a faith 
something like that which you children have in 
your own parents. Think of that and you will 
understand the beautiful love and faith of the 
believers of those ancient days. But we are get¬ 
ting away from our story. 

“ One day, soon afterwards, the King of Egypt, 
seated on his throne in his splendid palace — a 
throne with golden serpents to ornament it — 
was told that two shepherds from the desert 
wished to speak to him; and he allowed them to 
be shown into his presence. They came in 
gravely; and one held a long rod, which Pharaoh 
thought was only the usual staff carried by a 
shepherd as he led his sheep. The King looked 
coldly and curiously at the two men, and in¬ 
quired their business. 


90 


THE RIVER OF BLOOD 


“ Then one of them in low, grave tones re¬ 
buked Pharaoh for keeping the children of Israel 
in bondage, and, in the name of the Lord Jehovah 
who had spoken from the holy mountain, com¬ 
manded the King to set the people free, that they 
might go and worship this great God in the 
wilderness. 

“ Pharaoh stared at the two scornfully and 
said: 

“ ‘ Who is the Lord that I should obey His 
voice, to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, 
neither will I let Israel go! ’ 

“ So Moses and his brother Aaron went silently 
away. 

“ A second time they came into Pharaoh’s 
presence. Now it was Aaron who held the 
shepherd’s rod quietly in his fingers. Once more 
they demanded the freedom of the people of 
Israel in the name of Jehovah, the Lord God. 

“ The monarch frowned angrily. Then, with a 
mocking laugh, he bade them prove the might of 
their God by working a miracle. For the King 
did not believe that the two shepherds had any 
power in their hands at all. 

“ Silently Aaron lifted the long, slender staff, 
and flung it, straight and slim, at Pharaoh’s feet. 
As it fell, it writhed and twisted in the air; the 

pi 


THE RIVER OF BLOOD 


sun shone on it and showed it gleaming with 
scales. It dropped to the ground in the form of 
a live serpent, that lifted its head and hissed 
angrily at Pharaoh, and at the golden snakes that 
adorned his throne. 

“ Pharaoh and his servants started back from 
the serpent, just as Moses had done by the burn¬ 
ing bush. But the King had at his court clever 
conjurers and magicians who could bring snakes 
out of empty bags, and from corners of the royal 
rooms, in the same way that the snake-charmers 
in Eastern countries do to-day. The King sent 
for the conjurers, and they all turned their en¬ 
chanters’ wands into big snakes, that twisted and 
crawled, with Aaron’s, upon the palace floor. 

“ Then an astonishing thing happened. 
Aaron’s serpent lifted its big flat head, opened its 
hissing mouth, and swallowed the magicians’ 
serpents one by one. When Aaron lifted the 
great snake by the tail, it turned quietly into a 
rod again. 

“ Still Pharaoh would not obey the message of 
God. And once more Moses and Aaron went 
out from the palace.” 

“ Father, what became of the snakes that 
Aaron’s rod swallowed? ” asked Dick. 

“ That I can’t say, Son. It was a remarkable 

92 


THE RIVER OF BLOOD 


miracle, but, as you know, it failed to convince 
the King. That his own magicians had suddenly 
been given marvelous powers, too, however, did 
amaze him for the moment, as you have already 
learned,” replied Uncle Jim. 

“ Yes, but how was it, Father, that the King’s 
magicians were able to do all these things just 
as well as Aaron and Moses could? ” wondered 
Dick. 

“ They could not of themselves, Son. They 
did not possess the power, but God gave them the 
power to do miracles up to. a certain point, I sup¬ 
pose, to make more marked the superior power 
possessed by Moses and Aaron. We will now go 
on with our story. 

“ The next day the proud King went down to 
the river in the rose-colored dawn. Very likely 
he went there in order to worship the god of the 
river, in whom the Egyptians believed; for, morn¬ 
ing after morning, he always made his way to the 
same spot. There, standing by the river’s brink 
in the clear light of the risen sun, was the shep¬ 
herd from the wilderness, with his brother Aaron, 
holding high the rod of God. 

“ As Pharaoh came up to them, they stretched 
the rod over the river, where Pharaoh’s god was 
believed to be all-powerful. They smote the 

93 


THE RIVER OF BLOOD 


waters in the sight of the King and all his ser¬ 
vants; the sunlit ripples crimsoned, and the 
stream grew lurid and red. The rod of God had 
turned the waters of the river into blood. 

“ Pharaoh and his servants stared at the crim¬ 
son waters just as they had stared at the gleam¬ 
ing serpent. Then the King asked his magicians 
if they, too, could not turn water into blood. 
They showed him that they could, so again 
Pharaoh refused to believe in the power of the 
God of the Israelites. 

“ Then Moses and Aaron, with their mar¬ 
velous rod, brought up hundreds and hundreds of 
frogs from the river. The magicians of Pharaoh 
did the same. But Pharaoh now grew frightened, 
not only at what the shepherds could do, but 
also at the strange new powers of his own con¬ 
jurers. He begged Moses to stop the frogs from 
coming out of the river in their thousands; 
Moses did so, and all the other frogs began to die. 
Then, when Pharaoh saw that no more frogs were 
coming, he forgot his fear, and said that, after all, 
he would not let the people go. 

“ Then Aaron stretched out the rod again, and 
struck it down upon the dust of the hot and 
sandy land. The dust became, as it were, alive 
with myriads of insects, so that the magicians, 

94 


THE RIVER OF BLOOD 


who could show no more enchantments, were as 
startled as Pharaoh himself. 

“ Even then Pharaoh would not believe. He 
grew sullen and angry, and still refused to let 
the people go. So, morning after morning, Moses 
and Aaron waited for him as he came down to 
the river to worship; and, morning after morning, 
one of them stretched out the rod, and brought 
some strange and terrible thing to pass. At last, 
God said He would, Himself, pass through the 
land of Egypt about midnight, and would smite 
with death the first-born in every house that was 
not marked with the blood of lambs killed for the 
last supper that the Hebrews would ever eat in 
Egypt. By the blood on the door-posts God 
would, He said, know that His faithful people 
were within, and would not suffer the destroyer 
to enter. And, ever afterwards, they were, on a 
certain day, to observe the same Passover feast. 

“ The Israelites did exactly as God told them, 
and ate the Passover Lamb as they stood ready 
for their journey. And God passed through the 
land as He had said. Then Pharaoh sent for 
Moses and Aaron in the very middle of the night, 
while all the Egyptians wept for their first-born, 
and told them to hasten the Israelites away. 
‘ Get you forth/ he cried, 1 go and serve the Lord 

95 

7 — Uncle Jim’s Stories from Old Testament. 


THE RIVER OF BLOOD 


as ye have said: Take your flocks and herds and 
be gone! ’ 

“ All the men and women of the Egyptians 
echoed Pharaoh’s cry, and loaded the Israelites 
with gifts — jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, 
and fine clothing. 

“ In this manner the Israelites went away from 
the land of Goshen, and set out across the desert 
of Shur. As they traveled they saw always in 
front of them a pillar of cloud that streamed up 
from the earth to the sky. When night fell, a 
glow of redness showed in the high column of 
gray mist; and, as the darkness deepened, it 
became a pillar of fire. This was the sign of the 
Lord Jehovah, by which He showed them the 
way to go. And so, men, women and children, 
they set off for the Holy Mountain, that they 
might spread their tents, and learn the teachings 
of the Great God, among the dark rocks and the 
feathery tamarisk shrubs. 

" Was it real blood that Aaron turned the river 
into? ” asked Dick, as his father finished. 

“ So the Bible tells us, Son. When they smote 
the waters with the rod of God the river instantly 
became blood. But, as you already know, Pha¬ 
raoh was still not convinced, and still refused to 
let the children of Israel go.” 

96 


1 


THE RIVER OF BLOOD 


“ He did let them go at last, though,” reminded 
Dick. 

“ Yes, but not until after God smote the first¬ 
born,” agreed Uncle Jim. 

“ That seems a terrible thing to do,” mur¬ 
mured Betty. “ Was there no other way, Uncle 
Jim? ” 

“ God’s way is always the best way, my dear. 
God was patient with Pharaoh, as you know, 
very patient, but Pharaoh defied Him. It was 
not until every other effort had failed, that God’s 
all-powerful hand descended upon the Egyptians. 
You may well believe that, after this punishment, 
Pharaoh’s people were glad to be rid of the 
Israelites.” 

“ There is one question that I should like to 
ask, Father.” 

“Yes, Dick?” 

“ After smiting the first-born of the Egyptians 
that one time, did God stop smiting or did he 
keep it up?” 

“ No. It was not necessary for him to continue 
it, Son.” 

“ And not one Israelite was slain by mistake 
that night? ” persisted Dick. 

“ Not so far as the Bible records. It is 
probable that every Israelite home that night was 

97 


THE RIVER OF BLOOD 


marked with the blood of a slain lamb, as God 
had directed. This saved the Israelite homes 
from the vengeance of the Lord,” Uncle Jim 
replied. 

“ I don’t wonder they were glad to have the 
Israelites hurry away,” observed Betty thought¬ 
fully. “But, Uncle Jim, the end of the story is 
so beautiful that it makes me forget all the sad 
things in it. I wish you would tell us more about 
Moses. Will you? ” 

Uncle Jim promised that he would, adding 
that the next would be entitled, “ The Tent of 
God, the Story of Many Mysteries.” 


THE TENT OF GOD 

THE STORY OF MANY MYSTERIES 

6 6T’ WISH you children would read about 

1 Moses in the Bible and learn all about the 
wonderful things that God gave him the power 
to do,” said Uncle Jim in beginning his next 
story. “ Perhaps the people of those times were 
so used to mysteries, miracles and wonder¬ 
working, that they were not so much impressed 
as one would think. But, children, just think 
what a tremendous thing it would be were those 
wonders and miracles to be worked before our 
eyes to-day. Why, the whole world would be 
shaken to its very foundation.” 

“ I think the world would be frightened,” sug¬ 
gested Dick. 

“We have miracles to-day,” Mrs. Burroughs 
reminded the children, as she entered the room 
to listen to the next story. 

“ Do we, really, Mother? ” wondered Betty, 
her eyes opening widely. 

99 




THE TENT OF GOD 


“ Mother is right/’ spoke up Uncle Jim. “ How 
the plants and trees bud and leaf and bloom, how 
the planets of the universe pursue their course in 
the heavens, and how all nature performs its work 
in other directions, are really miracles beyond full 
understanding. If you will but look about you, 
you will see miracles accomplished everywhere.” 

Dick said that he had never thought of it in 
that way, and suggested that Uncle Jim take 
them all out for a walk in the country next day. 

“ We will go miracle-hunting,” added Dick. 

“ Oh, won’t that be perfectly wonderful! ” cried 
Betty. 

Mrs. Burroughs said it would be, and an¬ 
nounced her intention of going with them. 

“ Come, children. We must get on with our 
story,” urged Uncle Jim briskly. “ Then you 
must ask me for no more to-day.” 

“ You will tell us about Moses and his magic 
wand, too, won’t you, Uncle Jim? ” Betty ven¬ 
tured to ask. 

“ If you will give me a chance to do so, I 
will,” he promised laughingly. “ Please listen 
and be quiet,” he added. 

“ Moses,” began Uncle Jim, “ did many more 
wonders with the wand of God as he led the 
people of Israel towards the Holy Mountain. 

ioo 


THE TENT OF GOD 


You must read about all these things in tho 
Bible — how, by the power of the wonderful rod, 
the seas were divided so that the Israelites might 
pass through them; and how Pharaoh, who 
changed his mind and sent soldiers after them 
with horses and chariots, lost all his army in the 
waves. But the Israelites traveled safely on¬ 
wards and set up their tents all round about the 
foot of the mountain. Then God called to 
Moses from the shining cloud that hung over 
the very top. Moses went into the cloud, and 
disappeared from the sight of the awed and won¬ 
dering people below. 

“ There, in the middle of the bright cloud, the 
Lord Jehovah told Moses to make a special tent 
for His glory among the tents of the people them¬ 
selves, that He might come down to them from 
the mountain, and be near them, and dwell with 
them. The children of Israel were to bring offer¬ 
ings for the Tent of God from the treasures that 
had been brought by them from Egypt — gold 
and silver and brass; blue and purple and scar¬ 
let; fine linen and goats’ hair; rams’ skins dyed 
red, and fragrant wood; oil for the light; spices 
for the anointing, and sweet incense; and pre¬ 
cious stones for the High Priest to wear upon his 
breast. 


IOI 


THE TENT OF GOD 


“ God promised Moses that He would put 
great wisdom into the heart of a man called 
Bezaleel, of the tribe of Judah, to teach him how 
to turn all these offerings into beautiful things 
for the Tent of God. The scarlet and purple 
and blue were to be made into lovely curtains 
and hangings; the brass and silver into delicate 
ornaments; and the pure gold was, among other 
things, for a holy casket, with the Mercy-Seat 
above it, guarded by two bright angels stretching 
out their shining wings. 

“ God also promised that He would come down 
and rest upon the golden Mercy-Seat between the 
wings of the bright angels, and teach Moses and 
the children of Israel the things He desired them 
to learn. So this beautiful casket, or Ark, as it 
was called, was to be kept in a holy place within 
many-colored curtains, all embroidered with 
angels in scarlet and blue. Before the last cur¬ 
tain, which hung in front of the Ark, was to be 
set a golden candlestick, with seven branches 
made like almond-boughs in blossom, which were 
to hold up seven lamps of shining flame. The 
very shapes of the candlesticks were shown to 
Moses, as he stood in the glory of Jehovah’s 
Mountain.” 

“ Isn’t that perfectly wonderful? ” interrupted 


102 


THE TENT OF GOD 


Betty. “ I don’t believe there ever was another 
tent in the world like that.” 

Uncle Jim tried to frown, but his attempt 
turned to a smile, and he began again: 

“ Then Bezaleel, and another Israelite called 
Aholiab, and every wise-hearted man and wise- 
hearted woman in the camp under the Holy 
Mountain, set to work to make the Tent of God. 
The wise-hearted women spun thread, and wove 
cloth, and did fine needlework, and gave their 
ear-rings and ornaments to Aholiab and Bezaleel. 
And the wise-hearted men brought skins of bad¬ 
gers and goats, and hewed long planks of Shit- 
tim wood, which was the wood of the acacia-tree, 
which is of the same genus as the bush from 
which Jehovah’s voice had first spoken to Moses 
out of the flame. And so they all worked to¬ 
gether for the glory and the beauty of the Tent 
of God. Was that not a work of love, Betty? ” 

“ Oh, yes,” cried the little girl. “ How won¬ 
derful it must have been to those women to make 
a real tent for God. Did He really live in it, 
Uncle Jim? ” 

“ Yes, dear. That was the purpose of it so 
that God might come down to them from the 
mountain to be near them, as I have already told 
you. 


103 


THE TENT OF GOD 


“ When it was finished, Moses set the Tent up 
at the foot of the Holy Mountain, and all the 
people stood, watching. While they watched, a 
wonderful thing happened. The bright cloud 
on the mountain began to move slowly down the 
steep sides, over the white broom-bushes, and the 
pretty acacia-flowers. It floated right up to 
where the Tent stood, and then hung over it, 
shining more beautifully than ever. So Moses 
and all the people knew that Jehovah had come 
down, in the beautiful cloud, to the lovely Tent 
that they had made for Him. 

“ Three things were placed in the big golden 
casket that they called the Ark. First — the 
Tables of the Law, which were the Ten Com¬ 
mandments, carved in deep-cut letters upon two 
tablets of stone, and given by God to Moses for 
all the people to learn and to obey. The second 
was a little vase of manna. And to know what 
manna was we must go back a little way to the 
time before God’s wonderful Tent was finished. 

“You see, there were no fields of wheat or oats 
or barley round about the foot of the Mountain, 
where the camp of the children of Israel was 
spread. And the people, who had lived so long 
in Egypt, did not know how to find food in the 
great wilderness that stretched around. So they 

104 


THE TENT OF GOD 


went to Moses, and told him that if he did not 
find food for them they must surely die. But 
Moses rebuked them for their want of trust, and 
said that, in the very evening and the morning 
that were coming, they should see for themselves 
the loving-kindness of God. 

“ So, in the evening, when the purple dusk 
covered the desert with its mantle, and the sky 
flushed red in the west, the little brown quails 
of the wilderness came up and covered the camp; 
and the people killed and ate them. All through 
the night the Mountain glowed with glory, as if 
some miracle were going to happen at the break 
of day. Down among the rocks, in the open 
spaces between the tents, the dew fell much 
more heavily than usual. And, when the people 
woke, they saw that all about the camp the 
ground was like silver with a thousand, thousand 
beads of brightness which sparkled for a few min¬ 
utes in the sunshine, and then dried up with the 
warmth of the morning. But where the dew had 
lain the people saw a lot of small round things 
covering the face of the wilderness, and making 
the sand-dunes quite white, as if the hoar frosts 
of winter were upon them. 

“ The people, wondering, asked each other 
what it could be that covered the face of the 

105 


THE TENT OF GOD 


ground. And they said, ‘ It is a gift! It is an 
unknown thing! “ Manna” must be its name/ 
“ But Moses, coming into the midst of them 
through the morning light, said: ‘ This is the 

bread which the Lord hath given you to eat/ 

“ He told everybody, men and women and 
children, that they must gather the manna from 
the ground. So they brought out their jars and 
basins, and filled them with the wonderful new 
food. And then it was divided quite fairly 
among them. When the manna was made into 
cakes it tasted like wafers mixed with honey.” 

“ Was it really bread, Father? ” asked Dick. 

“ It was the Lord’s bread, but what it really 
was we do not know. The nearest we can come 
to describing it is, as I have already said, ‘it 
tasted like wafers mixed with honey. * ” 

Dick said he could easily imagine how eagerly 
the people ate of this wonderful food. 

“ So, morning after morning, during the years 
that they lived in the wilderness, the people of 
Israel gathered manna for their daily bread, in 
the early coolness of the dawn,” resumed Uncle 
Jim. “ But, as soon as the noontide heats came, 
the white, mysterious food vanished like little 
flakes of snow in the sunshine. On the sixth 
morning of each week the people gathered twice 

106 


THE TENT OF GOD 


aa much, for on the seventh day, the Sabbath, 
there was none. 

“ It was in memory of this that the vase of 
manna was put into the golden Ark with the 
Tables of the Law. And the third thing that was 
carefully laid there was Aaron's rod. 

“ It was not the same as the holy wand that 
Moses and Aaron had carried into the presence of 
Pharaoh; but it was fresh-cut, with eleven others, 
from the trees. For God told His people that, 
out of the twelve tribes of Israel, each of which 
was descended from one of Jacob's sons, He 
would choose a special family from whom the 
high-priests for His service were to be drawn. 
So the prince of each tribe was to give Moses 
a tree-branch, on which the name of the tribe 
was to be written, in order that everybody might 
know to whom each tree-branch belonged. 

“ So Moses stood at the door of the Tent of 
God, and, one by one, the princes came up, and 
gave him their long, straight branches, clearly 
written with their names. Moses took the 
wands into the Tabernacle, passed through the 
embroidered curtains and stood before the 
shining Ark. And there he laid the wands of 
the twelve princes down. 

“ So all night the wands lay in the Holy Place 

107 


THE TENT OF GOD 


of God. And in the morning Moses went in and 
brought them out. 

“ As he held them up to the gaze of the twelve 
princes and their people, everybody saw that one 
of the tree-branches had budded and brought 
forth green leaves and little tender blossoms, and 
yielded almonds. It was the rod of Aaron, of the 
house of Levi, that had budded in the night, in 
answer to the whisper of God.” 

“ What did that mean, Father? ” asked Dick. 
“ It must have meant something very wonderful 
to the people.” 

“ It did, Son. It meant that Aaron and his 
sons were chosen high-priests forever. As a 
token, the almond-bough was laid up in the 
golden Ark, with the little vase of manna and 
the Tablets of the Law. 

“ The Ark was called ‘ The Ark of the Cove¬ 
nant J because the Tablets, which, as you know, 
had the Ten Commandments engraved upon 
them, were a sort of promise, or covenant, be¬ 
tween the Lord Jehovah and the people whom 
He had saved and blessed. If they kept His 
laws, then He, in return, would make them a 
great nation. So they were to follow Moses to 
a land where the goats gave as much sweet milk 
as anyone wanted, and where the wild bees made 

108 


THE TENT OF GOD 


honey from the mountain flowers, the country 
where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had lived long, 
long ago. 

“ But, before the Israelites could enter that 
oountry, they had many things to learn in the 
wilderness, for they often, by disobedience, 
showed themselves unworthy of their great 
destiny as the chosen people of God. So for 
forty years they journeyed to and fro in the 
wilderness. Boys grew up to manhood, and 
young men became old men; in fact, scarcely any 
of those who had escaped from the bondage of 
Pharaoh lived to enter the Promised Land when 
their children did so. But wherever they stayed, 
the Holy Tent was always set up in their camps, 
and always, when they prayed to Jehovah, the 
beautiful cloud came down to the Mercy-Seat, 
and shone between the golden angels of the 
Ark.” 

“What a beautiful story!” cried Betty as 
Uncle Jim finished his narrative. “ It does seem 
queer, though, to think that a rod should have 
leaves and blossoms and grow almonds.” 

“Why not, Betty? You can cut a willow 
stick, thrust it into the ground, and in time it 
will grow, leaves will appear on it, and one day it 
will turn into a beautiful tree. The difference is 

109 


THE TENT OF GOD 


that God performed the miracle of making the 
rod bloom and bear in a single night — ” 

“ It bloomed in answer to the whisper of God,” 
added Dick impressively. 

“ Exactly so, Son,” agreed Dick’s father. 

“ Does anyone know what became of the Ark 
of the Covenant? ” asked Dick. 

“ I believe that it finally disappeared. It was 
more than once stolen by unbelievers, but bad 
luck always followed the theft of it. Finally, 
however, it disappeared forever so far as any 
information regarding it is found in the Bible. 
Now this is enough for to-day, children,” said 
Uncle Jim. “ I will next tell you about ‘ Ruth 
the Gleaner, the Sweet Story of the Daughter of 
the Moabites.’ ” 

“ Goodie, goodie,” cried Betty. “ I just love 
Ruth.” 


no 


RUTH THE GLEANER 

THE SWEET STORY OF THE DAUGHTER 
OF THE MOABITES 

I T was the eagerly looked-forward-to miracle 
hunt that filled the thoughts of Dick and 
Betty next morning, and right after breakfast 
they fairly dragged Uncle Jim out of the house. 
Mrs. Burroughs was so eager to be one of the 
party that she left her breakfast dishes on the 
table, a most unusual thing for such a fine house¬ 
keeper to do. 

The little party strolled across fields of nodding 
daisies and fragrant meadows of clover. As the 
children cried out delightedly at some wondrous 
work of nature, from the sweet-scented clover to 
the yellow sunflower that turned its nodding face 
towards the morning sun, Uncle Jim showed 
them the miracle in each. 

“ How beautiful it all has been, dear Uncle 
Jim,” said Betty when they finally sank down on 
the steps of the Burroughs home. 

hi 

8 — Uncle Jim's Stories from Old Testament. 


RUTH THE GLEANER 


“ Yes,” agreed Dick. “ I never even dreamed 
that there were so many miracles all about us. 
Why, some of them are just as wonderful as the 
Rod of Moses, the rod that turned into a bloom¬ 
ing tree over night.” 

“ I shall have to tell the girls of our Sunday- 
school class all about it next Sunday,” cried 
Betty brightly. “ Won’t they be surprised when 
they hear that I have seen real miracles? ” 

“ Some day soon I will show you others,” 
promised Uncle Jim. “ I believe we were to have 
a story this morning, were we not? ” 

“ Yes, yes! ” cried the children. 

“ What was it that I promised to tell you? ” 

“ About Ruth the Gleaner,” spoke up Betty 
quickly. 

“ The Story of the Daughter of the Moabites,’* 
added Dick. 

Uncle Jim’s eyes glowed with approval. 

“ Come up on the porch,” he said. “ It is 
getting too hot out here.” 

After the happy little family were comfortably 
seated, Uncle Jim began: 

“You have learned that the Children of 
Israel, because of their disobedience, were made 
to wander in the wilderness for forty years,” 
he said. 


112 


RUTH THE GLEANER 


“When the Children of Israel had learned to 
obey and follow the laws that Moses taught 
them, they were allowed to leave the wilderness, 
and to come into Canaan, the Promised Land. 
It must have changed from what it was like in 
the days of Jacob; for many great cities had been 
built by foreign kings among the mountains 
where once only the olive and fig trees had spread 
their branches and the small wild deer had leaped 
among the rocks. But it was always a fair and 
beautiful country; and, after long wars, the 
Children of Israel settled in the quiet valleys, 
and built villages on the lower slopes of the hills. 
Moses was dead, but a great captain called Joshua 
led them, and helped them to conquer the foreign 
kings. And the people set up the beautiful Tent 
of Jehovah at a place called Shiloh, quite near 
the spot where Joseph had been sold to the 
Ishmaelites several hundred years before. 

“ Bethlehem was one of the villages where the 
Children of Israel settled. After a time, there 
was a bad famine there, and no one had anything 
to eat; so many people left and went to settle in 
places where the harvests had been good. Among 
these people was a man called Elimelech, who 
went away with his wife, Naomi, and his two 
sons. They traveled a long way from Bethle- 

113 


RUTH THE GLEANER 


hem, beyond the wild deserted salt lake that is 
called the Dead Sea, into the land of Moab, where 
the hills in the distance look all red and strange. 
It was on one of these hills that Moses was 
buried. Elimelech settled there among the Mo¬ 
abites, and his two sons married two young Mo¬ 
abite girls, called Orpah and Ruth. But before 
either of these young wives had any children, the 
sons of Naomi died. As Elimelech was dead also, 
Naomi and her two daughters-in-law were left 
quite alone in the world. 

“ Naomi longed for her own beautiful country 
of Canaan, and did not want to die in the strange 
land of Moab. She heard, too, that the Lord had 
been merciful to Bethlehem again, and that once 
more the people had corn and wine and oil. So 
she left the place where she lived in Moab and 
set out for her old home. Orpah and Ruth went 
with her. But Naomi did not think that these 
daughters of the Moabites could be happy in 
leaving their own people. So she begged them 
to turn back. 

“ ‘ Go/ she said, ‘ return each to her mother’s 
house. And may the Lord deal kindly with you, 
as ye have dealt with the dead, and with 
me! 9 

“ She kissed them tenderly and they all wept 

m 


RUTH THE GLEANER 


at the thought of parting. Still Naomi urged 
them to turn back. 

Turn again, my daughters, go your ways! * 
she repeated, ‘ I am an old woman. I only go to 
the land of my fathers to spend my last days 
among my own people! ’ And so, at last, kissing 
her mother-in-law, and weeping, Orpah turned 
back. 

“ But Ruth would not leave Naomi, nor let her 
continue her journey alone. 

“ ‘ Whither thou goest I will go!’ she said. 

‘Where thou lodgest I will lodge! Thy 
people shall be my people and thy God my God! 
Where thou diest will I die and there will I be 
buried! The Lord do so to me, and more also, if 
aught but death part thee and me! 9 

“ Wasn’t that wonderful of Ruth? ” cried Betty 
with enthusiasm. 

“ I think it also very wonderful of Naomi,” 
interposed Mrs. Burroughs, who seldom took any 
part in the discussion of Uncle Jim’s stories. She 
preferred to listen and enjoy the stories as well 
as the eagerness of Betty and Dick. 

Dick averred that he did not think very much 
of the way Orpah left her mother-in-law. 

“Ruth was the loyal one,” ventured Betty. 
“ But, Uncle, why didn’t Orpah stay? ” 


RUTH THE GLEANER 


“ Because Naomi succeeded in convincing 
Orpah that for her to go meant that she would be 
a stranger in a strange land. Then again, she 
persuaded Orpah that it was her duty to go back 
and settle down among her own kindred. Ruth 
was not so readily turned from her purpose. 
Some might call her stubborn. No doubt they 
would in these days, but it was not stubbornness, 
children. Ruth gave up family and friends, re¬ 
ligion and country, choosing poverty and life 
among strangers for love of Naomi and belief in 
Naomi’s God. Was not that a great and beau¬ 
tiful thing to do? ” 

“ Yes,” answered Dick and Betty together. 

“ To get on with our story,” resumed Uncle 
Jim. 

“ When Naomi saw Ruth’s steadfastness, she 
no longer tried to persuade her to turn back. 
And they came, like mother and daughter, to 
Bethlehem. There was, oh! such excitement in 
the little village as the people recognized Elime- 
lech’s wife. They said, ‘ Is this Naomi? * 
But she answered sadly, ‘Nay, do not call me 
Naomi, but Mara, which means bitterness! For 
the Lord hath dealt very bitterly with me! ’ 

“ Because, you see, except for sweet and faith¬ 
ful Ruth, Naomi had nobody near to her in the 

116 


RUTH THE GLEANER 


wide world, and, what grieved her most of all, no 
little grandchildren to carry on her husband’s and 
her dead sons’ name. 

“ In this sad way, Naomi and Ruth came back 
to the plains and fields of Bethlehem, just when 
all the people of the country-side were about to 
bring home the harvest. Among these folk were 
many kinsmen of Naomi’s husband, and one of 
them, who w'as called Boaz, owned a great part 
of the land where the harvest was being gathered. 
Ruth asked Naomi if she might go and glean after 
the reapers. You know gleaners are the poor 
women and children who used to go into the 
fields of the rich farmers, and, following behind 
the reapers, gather up the long stalks of wheat, 
or barley, or oats, that the men let fall. In this 
way Ruth thought that she could get a little food 
for Naomi and herself. 

“ So, when Naomi said, ‘ Yes,’ Ruth went 
down the road to the fields, where the bearded, 
golden grain bent and rustled under the blue 
harvest-skies. All about her were the reapers, 
cutting down the yellow stalks with their gleam¬ 
ing sickles, and binding them into long sheaves .” 1 

“ The same kind of sheaves that stood up in 
Joseph’s dream, Uncle? ” interrupted Betty. 

“ Yes. I am pleased that you remember. 

117 


RUTH THE GLEANER 


“ It so happened that Ruth went to a field be¬ 
longing to Naomi’s kinsman, Boaz, though she did 
not know this at the time. Presently Boaz came 
and stood among the busy workers, and gave 
them greeting. 

“ ‘ The Lord be with you,’ said Boaz. And 
they answered, ‘ The Lord bless thee.’ 

“ Then Boaz saw Ruth, a little way off, wear¬ 
ing the dress of her native land of Moab. And 
he asked the reapers who she was. When they 
told him he went away over the stubble, and 
spoke to her gently, telling her to go on gleaning 
in his field, for his servants would be kind to her, 
and would give her water whenever she was 
thirsty. When she bent humbly before him, and 
asked how it was he was so kind to a stranger, 
he told her that he had heard of her love and de¬ 
votion to Naomi, and how she had come with her 
husband’s mother into this land of strangers. 
f And,’ he added, ‘ may the Lord recompense thy 
work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord 
God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come 
to trust.’ 

“ Boaz was fine to speak so kindly to Ruth,” 
nodded Betty. “ I thought that all the rich men 
and princes and persons were unkind in those 
days.” 

*18 


RUTH THE GLEANER 


“ Not quite all, as you see,” smiled Uncle Jim. 

“ Ruth was greatly comforted by these kind 
words. When they all sat down to eat, Boaz 
called to her, even more kindly, to come and join 
them. And he gave her parched corn — com 
roasted on a sieve — which was a favorite food in 
Canaan, and she ate, and was grateful. After 
dinner, Boaz told the reapers to let her glean 
quite close to them, among the very sheaves 
themselves, and to drop handfuls of good ears as 
if by accident, that she might pick them up. 

“ The reapers did so, and, when night fell, Ruth 
found that she had quite a lot of grain for Naomi 
and herself. Naomi, when she heard Ruth's 
story, and saw her gleanings, said: ‘ Blessed be 
the Lord, who hath not left off His kindness to 
the living and to the dead.' 

“ Now Naomi knew, by all the things Ruth 
told her, that the sweet young woman of the 
Moabites had, all at once, gained the love of 
Boaz, the kinsman of her dead husband. Naomi 
wanted Boaz to take Ruth to his heart, and to 
make her his wife. But Boaz, who had indeed 
fallen deeply in love with Ruth, knew that 
Naomi had a nearer kinsman than himself who 
had the first right to take the daughter-in-law of 
Elimelech as his wife; and he said that this kins- 

119 




RUTH THE GLEANER 


man’s consent must be obtained before he, Boaz, 
could prove to Ruth the love he felt for her. 

“ So in the full sunshine of the morning Boaz 
sat in an open place by the gate of the city. 
When the near kinsman of whom he had spoken 
passed, he called to him, and bade him sit down 
also. Then he summoned ten elders — wise old 
men who were to be witnesses of what was to 
follow. 

“ Boaz spoke to Naomi’s kinsman and said, 
‘ Naomi, who was the wife of Elimelech, our 
brother, has come back to Bethlehem from Moab, 
and wishes to sell a piece of land that belonged 
to her husband in Bethlehem. It is for you to 
say, before anyone else, if you will buy it.’ 

“ Naomi’s kinsman answered, ‘ I will buy it.’ 

“ But then Boaz went on: 

“ ‘ The same day that you buy the field of 
Elimelech you must also marry Ruth, the Moa- 
bitess, the wife of the dead, that her children 
may inherit the land that belonged to her hus¬ 
band, Elimelech’s son.” 

“ Naomi’s kinsman shook his head: ‘ That I 
cannot do! ’ he said. ‘I have little ones of my 
own to inherit all that belongs to me. I cannot 
share their inheritance with the children of a 
Moabitess. Therefore buy the field yourself.’ 


120 


RUTH THE GLEANER 


“ So Boaz said to the elders and all the people 
who were listening: 4 Ye are witnesses this day 
that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s and 
all that was his son’s! And ye are witnesses, 
too, that I take Ruth, Elimelech’s son’s wife, to 
be my wife. And her children and my children 
shall inherit all that was his.’ 

“ So Boaz married sweet Ruth, and they had a 
little son. On the day that Naomi took the tiny 
baby into her arms, all the women who were her 
neighbors rejoiced with her. They said: 
c Blessed be the Lord that hath not left thee this 
day without a kinsman, whose name may be 
famous in Israel. And he — this baby — shall be 
to thee a restorer of thy life, to give sweetness to 
thine old age! For thy daughter-in-law, which 
loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven 
sons, hath borne him! ’ 

“ The baby’s name was called Obed. And his 
son, when he grew up, was Jesse, the father of 
David, the shepherd, who, as we shall see, became 
King over all Israel.” 

“ Ruth was indeed a wonderful woman,” de¬ 
clared Betty as the story ended. “ I always did 
love her. I don’t believe many girls to-day 
would work in the fields to support a mother- 
in-law. Do you think so, Uncle Jim? ” 


121 


RUTH THE GLEANER 


“ Frankly, I do not think they would,” he re¬ 
plied thoughtfully, stroking his chin. “ Like 
yourself, Betty, I have always loved Ruth.” 

“ So did Boaz,” ventured Dick. “ Wasn’t the 
kinsman sorry he didn’t take Ruth? ” 

Uncle Jim said that, though the Bible does not 
say so, the kinsman had a right to regret his 
decision. 

“ Now, let us speak of the next story,” he re¬ 
sumed briskly. “ It is to be about another baby 
who grew to be a wonderful man. You shall hear 
about this little one to-morrow, and the title of 
the story will be, ‘ The Child of the Holy Tent, 
the Story of Samuel/ ” 


THE CHILD OF THE HOLY TENT 


THE STORY OF SAMUEL 

T HE next morning when Betty and Dick 
reached the breakfast room. Uncle Jim was 
not there. 

“ He may not be back until late this afternoon,” 
volunteered Mrs. Burroughs, observing the dis¬ 
appointment in their faces. “ You two children 
must eat your breakfast. Then go out and play 
in the orchard,” was her suggestion. 

“ Where has Father gone? ” demanded Dick. 

“ He took an early train to a nearby place to 
see an old friend who is ill,” replied Betty’s 
mother. 

“ Mother! ” cried Betty, her face reflecting real 
concern. “ You don’t think Uncle Jim will tell 
his sick friend our stories, do you? If he does — 
if he tells them before he tells them to us, I’ll 
never, never forgive him! Will you, Dick? ” 
“Were Father to hear you talk that way I 
know he wouldn’t be pleased at all,” rebuked 
Dick. 


123 


THE CHILD OF THE HOLY TENT 


“ You are right, Dick, my lad,” said Mrs. Bur¬ 
roughs, nodding her approval. “ Betty, that is 
not the beautiful spirit of Ruth,” she added, turn¬ 
ing to her little daughter. 

Betty’s eyes filled with tears. Tears came 
easily to Betty Burroughs’ eyes. But no one 
laughed at her this time. Dick regarded her 
soberly, almost sorrowfully, then Mrs. Burroughs 
drew Betty to her and spoke in her gentle way, 
pointing out that what she called “ petty jeal¬ 
ousy ” was a many-headed monster that, one day, 
would turn Betty’s sweet face, as well as her 
sunny disposition, into sourness. 

“ Then your temper and your good looks will be 
spoiled for life, Betty dear,” she added. 

Betty instantly brushed the tears from her eyes, 
for she was just a wee bit vain, and was very 
proud of her beautiful face, her blue eyes and 
yellow curls. 

“ I’ll be good, Mother,” she promised. “ After 
breakfast Dick and I will go out and see if we 
can’t bring back the story of some more miracles 
that we can tell to Uncle Jim.” 

Soon after breakfast the two children started 
out, and when they returned, just a little late for 
dinner, they were delighted to find Uncle Jim 
waiting for them on the front porch. 

124 


THE CHILD OF THE HOLY TENT 


" Oh, Uncle Jim! ” cried Betty, throwing her¬ 
self into his arms. “ We’ve seen the most won¬ 
derful things this morning. Let me tell you 
about them.” 

“ After dinner, Blue Eyes,” smiled Uncle Jim. 

But Betty could not wait. She was a very 
impatient little girl, and she not only chattered 
all the way to the table, but talked most of the 
time during the dinner. It was not until some 
time after dinner that she remembered that they 
were to have a story, and then Uncle Jim was be¬ 
sieged to tell it. 

“ Very well,” he promised. “ Perhaps you two 
children will be glad to know that I did not tell 
this story to my friend who is sick,” added Uncle 
Jim, directing a quick glance at Betty, whose face 
flushed hotly. “ You will recall the story that I 
told you some few days ago about The Tent of 
God,” he began: 

“ The Holy Tent that Moses had made in the 
wilderness was, you remember, set up in a place 
called Shiloh. From the door of the Tent Joshua 
had taught and guided the people, just as Moses 
had done. 

“ Then Joshua died, too. In those days there 
was no king in Israel; but everybody did what 
seemed right to himself, without thinking of 

125 


THE CHILD OF THE HOLY TENT 


other people. So there was a great deal of fight¬ 
ing and quarreling and trouble among the tribes. 

“ All the time the House of God stood on the 
little hill of Shiloh, where great oaks grew wide 
and free, dropping their acorns upon the grass. 
In the oaks the turtle-doves built their nests, and 
cooed softly over the pure white eggs. Big jays 
made harsh noises, and black and white magpies 
chattered back to the jays. There were black 
storks with homes in the firs, and common storks 
on the house-roofs; and fields of flax, where the 
flowers were as blue as the cloudless sky. Here 
was the very well where Jacob’s sons had once 
fed and watered their flocks; and you might still 
see shepherd-boys taking care of the sheep and 
lambs. But there were vineyards now, also, 
where the big leaves grew green, and the grapes 
hung in purple bunches. Little towers were set 
in the middle of these vineyards; and watchmen, 
in warm sheepskin coats, kept guard over the 
fruit all night. Great gnarled fig-trees yielded 
green and purple figs; and the silver-gray olive- 
branches trembled and shimmered in the sun. 
The houses of the villages were built, very often, 
of bricks, and had wide, flat roofs, where the 
women spread out the soaked stalks of flax to 
dry into thread for linen. Altogether life was 

126 


THE CHILD OF THE HOLY TENT 


different now from what it had been among the 
tents of the shepherd-princes, long ago. 

“ The Holy Tent on the little hill was built 
about with priests’ houses, but the shining cloud 
never came to hang over it now, for many of the 
people had quite forgotten God, and worshiped 
the idols of the foreign kings. The curtains of 
blue and crimson and purple were faded and 
worn; for, since the wise-hearted women had 
spun and woven them in the desert, several hun¬ 
dred years had passed. The lights of the golden 
candlesticks, made like almond-branches, were 
often allowed to go out. And where the people 
had once sung praises there was now only the 
music of the birds.” 

“ Did that Tent stand there all those years? ” 
asked Dick. 

“ Yes, son. I believe it did.” 

“ Most tents would have crumbled to dust in 
that time,” suggested Dick. 

“ My son, this Tent was different. It was God’s 
Tent,” reminded Uncle Jim, and then resumed his 
story. 

“ An old man called Eli acted as High-Priest; 
but he was tired and sad, and unable to stop the 
wickedness of the people. And Eli’s sons were 
the most wicked of all. So it seemed as if Israel 

127 

f ' 9 — Uncle Jim’s Stories from Old Testament. 


THE CHILD OF THE HOLY TENT 


were lost to goodness forever. And then, one 
day, the presence of the Lord returned to the 
forsaken Tent at Shiloh. And it came back in 
answer to the loving worship of a little child. 

“Some of the people of Israel, you see, still 
remembered the God who had brought them out 
of Egypt; and they came up once in every year 
to Shiloh, to offer gifts to Jehovah, as Moses had 
taught them — barley and figs and olives, and 
sometimes goats or lambs. Among these yearly 
pilgrims were a man and his wife from Mount 
Ephraim, on the other side of the valley. One 
day, as Eli, the old High-Prie,st, sat in a seat by 
the post of the Tent, he saw this woman, who 
was kneeling at the door of the House of God, 
weeping bitterly. Her lips were moving all 
the time, as if she talked to herself; and after 
watching her for a little, Eli asked what she was 
doing. 

“ Then the woman poured out her trouble to 
the old Priest. She had been praying for a child, 
because she had no little ones to make her happy. 
And she told Eli that, if God would only grant 
her a son, she would give the child to the Lord, 
to serve in the Holy Tabernacle all his life. 

“ Something of the old spirit of power and grace 
filled Eli’s heart. And he said; 

128 


THE CHILD OF THE HOLY TENT 

fe 

“‘ Go in peace! And may the God of Israel 
grant thy petition that thou hast asked of Him! ’ 
“ So the woman, who was called Hannah, went 
away, hopeful and rejoicing. 

‘‘ Well, after some time her prayer was 
answered, and Eli’s blessing was fulfilled. A dear 
little boy was born to Hannah and her husband, 
in their home on Mount Ephraim. The mother, 
in her joy, called the baby ‘ Samuel ’ ‘ because/ 
she said, ‘ that means “ Asked of God.” 9 ” 

“ What a beautiful name,” murmured Betty. 
“ Why don’t we give such beautiful names now? ” 
“ We do,” replied Uncle Jim. “ But we forget 
the great meaning of the names. Most of the old 
Bible names are borne by men and women to-day, 
but few of them really know what their names 
mean. 

“ The next year Hannah’s husband went to 
Shiloh, as usual, to worship, and to carry his 
offerings to the Lord. But Hannah would not 
go with him. 

“‘No!’ she said. ‘The next time I go I 
will take my dear little son Samuel with me! 
I will show him to the Lord in the Tabernacle! 
And then I will leave him, that he may stay there 
and serve God forever! ’ 

“ Samuel’s father, who loved Hannah better 

129 


THE CHILD OF THE HOLY TENT 


than anybody in the world, told her to do as 
seemed good to her, and to keep her promise to 
the Lord. 

“ Then, when Samuel was a little older and 
able to run about and play with the other 
children, Hannah took gifts of cattle from her 
husband’s herds, and flour from the store, and a 
bottle of wine made from the sweet vineyard 
grapes, and went up to Shiloh. And she took 
little Samuel with her. 

“ So Eli, one day, saw again the woman who 
had prayed at the door of the Holy Tent. This 
time she was bringing many gifts for the Lord 
Jehovah. And the greatest gift of all was her 
tiny son. 

“ In rapt and earnest words she told Eli who 
she was. ‘ Oh, my lord! ’ said she, ‘ I am the 
woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the 
Lord! For this child I prayed! And the Lord 
has answered my prayer! Therefore, as long as 
he lives shall he be lent to the Lord! ’ 

“ Eli looked down at the little innocent child. 
And Samuel gazed up into the old Priest’s face 
with earnest, surprised eyes. Then Hannah told 
her little son always to be good and to worship 
God, and she left him in the Holy Tent, with 
the old Priest, forever. 


130 


THE CHILD OF THE HOLY TENT 

t 

“ But I do not think little Samuel was lonely. 
He lived among such interesting things, and he 
must have liked to look at the beautiful angels 
so cleverly embroidered upon the fine old colored 
curtains, and at the golden almond-boughs of 
the great candlestick. He learned to mix the 
spices for the incense — the holy perfume that 
was burnt on certain days — and you can imagine 
how he would enjoy beating the fragrant stuff 
‘ very small* as Moses had commanded, and 
putting it to burn in the censer, which was a 
beautiful vase of gold. Then he would pour the 
glistening yellow oil into the lamps, set a light to 
the floating wicks, and watch the flame shine out 
among the shadows till all was bright and clear. 
And he worshiped the Lord Jehovah, innocently 
and wonderingly, all the time. 

“ He wore a small linen ephod, which hung from 
his shoulders as if it were a tiny gown. And 
his mother, every year, when she came to Shiloh 
to worship, brought him a little coat that she had 
made for him. 

“ What a great day that must have been for 
Hannah and Samuel! How they would fit the 
coat on together, and see, by its size, how much 
Samuel had grown. And he would, I am sure, 
tell his mother of the beauties of the inner parts 

131 


THE CHILD OF THE HOLY TENT 


of the Holy Tent, where she herself had never 
been; and describe to her the angels, and the 
lamps, and the golden bells on the hem of the 
High-Priest’s robe. Perhaps he would tell her the 
story of Aaron’s rod that blossomed in a single 
night, and of the little hidden vase of manna. 
Then he would kiss her good-bye, and wave his 
hand to her as he stood under the oak-trees in the 
dying sunlight; and watch her going away down 
the mountain path into the dusk of the valley on 
her way home. 

“ So Samuel lived — a little, sweet, pure- 
hearted child — among the fair, worn embroideries 
and old mysterious treasures of the Holy Tent, 
passing busily through them in the daytime, and 
sleeping in their very midst at night. He must 
have been like a spring flower in a grand, old, for¬ 
saken autumn wood! And the Lord saw him 
there and loved him, and chose him for His own. 

“ One night, then, Samuel lay down to sleep in 
the quiet shadows of the curtains, where the lamps 
of God were burning with a soft light before dying 
away into darkness. Eli, the old High-Priest, 
kept watch near at hand. But Eli’s eyes grew 
heavy and dim with drowsiness, and presently his 
tired lids closed. And then Samuel, lying quiet 
on his bed, heard a voice in the Tent of God. 

132 


THE CHILD OF THE HOLY TENT 


“ ‘ Samuel ! 1 called the voice, 4 Samuel! * 

“ ‘ Here am I! 5 answered little Samuel quickly, 
starting up. And he pattered across on his bare 
feet to Eli, for he thought that the Priest had 
called. 

“ But Eli said, 1 1 called not! Lie down again 1 7 
So little Samuel went back to his bed and lay 
down again. 

“ Then, a second time, came the voice: 4 Sam¬ 
uel! ’ 

“ Again Samuel jumped up and ran to E1L 
4 Here am I! 9 said the child earnestly. ‘ For 
thou didst call me/ 

“ But still Eli said that the little boy was mis¬ 
taken. ‘ I called not, my son! Lie down again! ’ 

“ So, once more, Samuel went back and lay 
down. And the Tent was very still, with only the 
sound of the night-breeze rustling in the oaks out¬ 
side. 

“ Then, a third time, the silence was broken. 
The urgent voice rang out again: ‘ Samuel! ’ 

“ Then at last Eli, when Samuel came once 
more to him, knew that the Lord had called the 
child. And he said, ‘Go; lie down! And if the 
voice comes again, say, “Speak, Lord; for Thy 
servant heareth! ” 9 

“ So Samuel lay down for the third time, and 

*33 


THE CHILD OF THE HOLY TENT 


listened breathlessly. And the voice came to 
him once more, straight out of the Holy Place 
where the Ark stood behind the curtains. 

“ ‘ Samuel! ’ 

“ Then Samuel, trembling, yet full of joy, 
whispered: 

“ ‘ Speak, for Thy servant heareth! ’ 

“ And, in the quietness of the night, the Lord 
Jehovah told the child that great changes were 
to take place in Israel, and that those who did 
wrong were to make way for those who did right. 
Samuel listened earnestly to all that the Lord said 
to him. Then the voice died away, and, until the 
dawn came, all was quiet in the House of God. 

" In the morning, the child got up and set wide 
the doors, as usual, and breathed the fresh sweet 
air. But the voice was clear in his memory. 
Only, as Eli’s sons were those who did the worst 
wrong, he was afraid at first to answer the old 
Priest’s questions. But when, at last, he did so, 
Eli said with earnest faith: 

“ ‘ It is the Lord! Let Him do what seemeth 
Him good! ’ 

“ And, after that night, the Lord appeared again 
in Shiloh, so perhaps the people in the valley 
would sometimes see the beautiful cloud shining 
again over the Holy Tent, and would know that 

134 


THE CHILD OF THE HOLY TENT 


the Lord Jehovah was teaching Samuel, just as 
He had taught Moses in the Wilderness, long 
ago.” 

“ Uncle Jim, what is an ephod — the garment 
that Samuel wore? ” asked Betty at the end of the 
story. 

“ An ephod is a priestly vestment of linen worn 
by the Jewish high-priests,” replied Uncle Jim. 

“ Wasn’t Samuel scared when God spoke to him 
that night? ” wondered Betty. 

“ Would you have been? ” returned Uncle Jim. 

“ I should say I would have,” declared Betty. 

“ Perhaps Samuel had no reason to be afraid. 
He was not vain as some beautiful children are, 
nor was he jealous. As Samuel was a good boy, 
he knew not fear of God,” answered Uncle Jim, 
giving her a keen glance. 

Betty flushed more hotly than before. 

“ Think it over, Betty dear,” he urged, patting 
her yellow curls. “ Now both of you run along 
and next time I will tell you about ‘ The Sea- 
Robbers, the Story of the Fish-God/ concluded 
Uncle Jim. 

“ Oh, that does sound good, Father,” cried Dick. 
“ Come along, Betty. We’ll make him tell that 
story this very day,” promised Dick as he and 
Betty ran laughing from the house. 

135 


THE SEA-ROBBERS 


THE STORY OF THE FISH-GOD 

(6 TS this a pirate story? ” questioned Dick 
when they had met for another of Uncle 
Jim’s delightful stories. 

“ Not exactly, Son/’ replied Dick’s father. “ It 
is a story of battle and mysterious happenings.” 

“ What was the Fish-God? ” asked Betty. 

“ An idol which I shall tell you about in a mo¬ 
ment. Some time ago you said that you wished 
to know more about the beautiful golden Ark of 
the Covenant, and to-day you will learn of some 
of the things that happened to it. I am certain 
that they will deeply interest both of you 
children.” 

“ Who were the Sea-Robbers? ” begged Dick, 
w T ho already was interested in the story, and im¬ 
patient to know what it really was about. Betty 
was little less curious. 

“ I’ll not tell you another word in advance of 
the story itself, and if you interrupt again maybe 
I won’t tell it at all,” threatened Uncle Jim, but 

136 


THE SEA-ROBBERS 


the smile that accompanied the threat told Betty 
and Dick that they need have no fears of such a 
tragedy. “ Margaret, what am I going to do with 
these children ?” demanded Uncle Jim, turning 
laughingly to Mrs. Burroughs. 

“ If you wish to have any peace at all, James, 
I would suggest that you begin your story as 
speedily as possible,” replied Betty’s mother. 

“ The advice is good. Ill follow it,” agreed 
Uncle Jim. “ Children, listen to the story of great 
deeds, both bad and good,” added Uncle Jim, who 
then began relating one of the most fascinating 
stories that the children had ever listened to. 

“ One morning in Canaan the sun rose upon a 
terrible sight,” he said. “ Two long wide camps 
of war-tents were spread over the grassy plains 
where usually the sheep and goats grazed so peace¬ 
fully; and from the tents came the clash of armor, 
and the hum of great crowds of soldiers. The 
Israelites and the Philistines were about to fight 
a big battle. 

“ The Philistines were a nation of sea-robbers 
who lived on the coast of Canaan. Their palaces 
and temples overlooked the golden shores and 
violet-blue waters of the Great Sea — the sea we 
now call the Mediterranean. And the chief god 
that they worshiped was a Fish-God. 

i37 


THE SEA-ROBBERS 


“ They had five Kings who went about in iron 
chariots; and it was always a time of awe for the 
Israelites when they heard the rolling wheels of 
the Sea-Robbers’ chariots, and the thudding gallop 
of their war-horses. 

“ But this time the children of Israel were ready 
for battle; because Samuel, now a grave and beau¬ 
tiful youth about twenty years old, had told them 
that they would have to fight with the Philistines 
very soon. And Samuel was taught, as all the 
people knew, by God Himself. 

“ So, when the sun was fully risen, and the 
world was flooded with a light too lovely for a 
scene so terrible, the armies met each other with 
the deep-toned chantings and sullen clang of a 
mighty old-world battle. And the Philistines won 
the day. When night fell on the exhausted and 
heart-broken Israelites they met together in their 
camp, and wept over their dead. And then the 
old men among them said: 

“ ‘ Let us send to Shiloh for the Ark of Jehovah! 
Surely that will save us, as it used to do! ’ ” 

“ Do you mean that the beautiful Samuel’s 
people were defeated by the Sea-Robbers? ” in¬ 
terrupted Betty. 

“Yes. The Israelites were not only badly 
beaten, but their dead were many.” 

138 


THE SEA-ROBBERS 


“ Where was Samuel all this time, Father? ” de¬ 
manded Dick. 

“ He was there, probably comforting the un¬ 
happy Israelites, and trying to advise them what 
ought to be done. Samuel, probably, having been 
taught by God, knew many things that his people 
did not. As I have already told you, too, it was 
the old men that advised sending for the Ark of 
Jehovah, for, in the old days, Joshua, when he 
fought the foreign armies, had always made the 
priests carry the Ark in front of the Israelites; 
just as, in later wars, the soldiers would carry the 
banner of the King. 

“ So messengers went through the dark starry 
night to Shiloh, and brought the Ark of God 
secretly to the field of battle. And, when the 
Children of Israel saw the Ark carried into the 
midst of their tents, they gave the old ringing, 
well-known battle-cry — the battle-cry that used 
always to burst out so triumphantly when they 
knew that Jehovah was in their midst. 

“ The Philistines heard the mighty shout and 
asked what it meant. And then the word ran 
through their ranks that the Ark of the Israelites’ 
God had been brought into the enemy’s camp. 
They were frightened, and said to each other: 

“ ‘ The shepherd-people have brought out the 

i39 


THE SEA-ROBBERS 


Ark of their wonderful God, who did such terrible 
things to the Egyptians! Let us escape! ’ 

“ Then their captains turned on them angrily 
and bade them be men — not frightened servants 
of the Hebrews. So they took courage again, and 
lined up in front of their tents, ready, once more, 
for battle. 

“ There, in the morning light, stood the shining 
golden casket, with the beautiful carved angels 
that Bezaleel had made. And behind it waited 
the rows of Israelite soldiers — breathless, silent, 
watching for the Sea-Robbers to take to instant 
flight. But the Israelites had neglected too long 
the great Jehovah of Battles. After the first mo¬ 
ment of awed hesitation, the worshipers of the 
Fish-God rushed forward upon their enemies, 
killing them in hundreds, and driving them in 
full flight over the plain to take refuge in their 
tents. And then the Philistines took the holy 
Ark of the Covenant, and carried it away to their 
own country on the shores of the Great Sea.” 

“ Oh, Uncle!” cried Betty. “ Did they take 
the Ark? ” 

“ Yes,” nodded Uncle Jim. 

“What I do not understand,” spoke up Dick, 
“ is why this wonderful Ark did not help the 
Israelites.” 

140 


THE SEA-ROBBERS 


“Son, the Israelites had not been very good, 
They had neglected the Ark and God until they 
were in trouble; then they cried for help. It 
was then that they bethought themselves of the 
holy object and brought it to the front. As their 
punishment, God permitted them to be defeated. 

“ When they reached the coast, the five Kings 
had the Ark taken into the temple of the Fish- 
God, and set it up by the side of their own big 
silver and wooden image, that had the head and 
hands of a man, and the scaly tail of a fish. 

“ What a strange sight it must have been in that 
dim temple! On stormy nights, the winds of 
the Great Sea howled across the few miles of low 
shore right up to the gates of the city of Ashdod, 
where the Fish-God’s temple stood. And these 
winds from the west would bring the smell of 
the salt weeds into the temple; so that the Fish- 
God must have seemed like a monster merman in 
a cave, when the five Kings, and the priests, and 
the magicians, after offering up incense to their 
idol, went away into the twilight and left the Ark 
of Jehovah behind. 

“ Did they wonder what would happen? Did 
they think that perhaps, in the morning, the 
image of the Fish-God would glow with some new 
mysterious life and strength and power? The 

141 


THE SEA-ROBBERS 


Bible does not tell. But what it does tell is that, 
when they returned in the early dawn, they found 
Dagon, the Fish-God, struck down to the very 
earth, and lying stretched out on the ground in 
the temple, in front of the Ark.” 

“ Good, good! ” cried Betty, clapping her hands. 
“ It served Dagon just right. Did God do that? ” 

“ Yes, of course he did,” said Dick, answering 
for his father. 

“ God felled the false god right in front of the 
sacred Ark,” added Uncle Jim. 

“ The priests set the idol up again, awed and 
wondering. But, the next night, the Fish-God 
had fallen a second time. And, this second time, 
its head and its hands were cut away from it, and 
only its fishy stump remained. 

“ After that the people of Ashdod were all 
seized with sickness; and so they sent the Ark 
of God away to Gath, another city of the five 
Sea-Robber Kings. Then illness fell, too, upon 
the people of Gath. So the Kings sent the Ark 
to Ekron, yet a third city that belonged to them. 
But the people of Ekron would not have it. And, 
at last, after seven months, the Kings called to¬ 
gether all the priests of the Fish-God, and begged 
to know what was the best thing to do with the 
Ark of the God of Israel. 


142 


THE SEA-ROBBERS 


“ The priests of the Fish-God told the five Kings 
to have a new cart made, and to take two milking- 
cows, that had never yet been yoked, and to har¬ 
ness them to the cart. Then, said the priests, the 
two little calves, that always ran by the side of 
their mothers, must be taken to their home- 
meadows; and the Ark of God must be laid upon 
the cart, with jewels of gold in a coffer, or box, by 
the side. The cows must be set free to take what¬ 
ever path they chose. If they drew the Ark to 
Bethshemesh, which lay at the foot of the hills 
that divided the land of the shepherd-people from 
the land of the Sea-Robbers, then the Kings would 
understand that it was the Israelites’ God who 
had smitten the people of Ashdod, of Gath, and 
of Ekron. But if the mother-cows went back to 
their baby-calves, it would be a sign that the sick¬ 
ness and the trouble had only come by chance. 

“ The Kings did as the priests commanded. In 
their iron chariots they sat about, as their ser¬ 
vants, under the orders of the priests, harnessed 
the cows to the new wooden cart, set the Ark of 
God upon it, and laid the jewels of gold by the 
side. And then the cows were set free. Instead 
of turning homewards to the meadows where their 
little calves nibbled at the grass, they hastened 
right away towards the hills of Bethshemesh, 

i43 

10 — Uncle Jim's Stories from Old Testament . 


THE SEA-ROBBERS 


lowing as they went, and drawing the cart behind 
them. 

“ Then the five Kings of the Sea-Robbers gave 
rein to their horses, and followed after. Can you 
picture that strange and beautiful procession 
across the green pastures to the distant, hazy 
hills? How the sun would shine on the golden 
Ark, and the bright jewels, and the sleek, smooth 
coats of the cows! And how the five Kings, won¬ 
dering, awed, expectant, would hold in their big, 
high-stepping horses, and follow in the track of 
the kine! 

“ On and on they went, until Bethshemesh was 
in sight. The Israelites, reaping their wheat- 
harvest in the valley, heard the lowing of the 
cows, and the rolling of the wheels, and the sound 
of the horses’ hoofs. And, looking up, they saw 
that, in this marvelous fashion, the Ark of God 
was being returned to them. 

“ Straight to a tall pillar that stood in a field 
went the two cows. And there they paused. 
Then the priests came and took the Ark of 
Jehovah from the cart. And the five Kings, mar¬ 
veling deeply, turned round and drove back again 
to Ekron. 

“ But the men of Bethshemesh were curious, 
and looked into the Ark, and the Lord slew many 

144 


THE SEA-ROBBERS 


of them. So then they begged the men of Kir- 
jathjearim to take it away. And the men of 
Kirjathjearim carried it to the house of a good 
man who lived on the quiet slopes of the hills. 
And in this house, among the mountain-trees, the 
beautiful casket of gold stayed for twenty years. ,, 

“ That’s the best story you ever told us,” de¬ 
clared Dick as his father finished. 

“ It is beautiful and terrible,” murmured Betty. 
“ What made the cows go to Bethshemesh instead 
of hurrying back to their dear little calves? ” she 
questioned. 

“ God led them,” was Uncle Jim’s brief reply. 

“ And He really slew the men of Bethshemesh 
because they peeped into the Ark? ” wondered 
Betty. 

“ Yes. To show lack of respect for this beau¬ 
tiful and sacred relic would naturally arouse the 
anger of the Lord, and, as you have seen, those 
who did not treat it with proper respect were 
severely punished. The Ark, as you now know, 
finally found a resting place among the quiet 
hills where God’s stars kept nightly vigil over it 
for twenty long years. 

“ That will be all for this time, children.” 

“ What happened to the Fish-God? ” Dick 
wanted to know. 

i*45 


THE SEA-ROBBERS 


“ Son, there was not enough of it left to be worth 
while fixing. However, I presume it was made 
over again, but I must confess that I do not know 
as to this.” 

“ What a wonderful thing it would be were the 
Ark of the Covenant some day to be dug up from 
one of the buried cities,” reflected Dick. “ Would 
it not, Father? ” 

“ Too wonderful to contemplate,” answered 
Dick’s father. “ One can imagine, though, the 
wave of excitement that would sweep over the 
world. But, it isn’t possible. Our next story will 
be entitled, 4 The Little Harpist of the Hills, the 
Story of David.’ I think I told you something 
about David last summer, but this time I shall 
tell you more of him. I know you will agree with 
me that it is a wonderful story, my dears,” finished 
Uncle Jim. 




THE LITTLE HARPIST OF 
THE HILLS 


THE STORY OF DAVID 

6 6 you children know who it is that I am 

I / going to speak of to-day? ” asked Uncle 
Jim when the children met him in the parlor next 
morning. 

Neither one thought that perhaps the title held 
the answer to the question, but Betty suggested 
that it might be one of Father Abraham’s sons. 
Dick thought it might be Moses, all of which 
made Uncle Jim smile. 

“ I fear you two children do not think,” he 
rebuked. 

“ Is it about Samuel? ” wondered Betty. 

“ Daughter, don’t guess,” said Mrs. Burroughs. 

“ I have to, Mother. Uncle Jim asks such 
unusual questions that, if I answer at all, I have 
to guess, and — ” 

“ Do you give it up, Dick? ” There was a 
twinkle in Uncle Jim’s eyes. 

147 


THE HARPIST OF THE HILLS 


“Yes, I do,” admitted Dick. “Who was it, 
Father? ” 

“ That is the story/’ answered Uncle Jim 
teasingly. “ Listen closely, and before I have 
gone far I think you may discover who the Little 
Harpist of the Hills is. To begin with I will say 
that quite a few years had passed since the events 
related in my previous story, and here the story 
really begins. 

“ One day an old man with gray hair, bowed 
shoulders, and tired, sad eyes, stood on the hill¬ 
side above Bethlehem, looking down on the valley 
below. In his withered hands he held a horn, like 
the drinking-vessels that were used in the olden 
days; and a mantle lay upon his stooping 
shoulders. The horn was filled with oil, which 
smelled wonderfully sweet, and he was carrying it 
very carefully. Bees were humming in the sweet¬ 
flowering myrtles that grew near; far behind, in 
the distance, rose the purple heights of Mount 
Moriah. Sheep browsed among the flowers be¬ 
low; and the green barley was sprouting on the 
fields of Boaz and Ruth. Above all the other 
sounds of the valley — the calls of the little lambs 
and the voices of young children — came the 
rippling sweetness of a shepherd-boy’s harp. 

“ The old man was Samuel, now a great prophet 

148 


THE HARPIST OF THE HILLS 


in Israel, who had chosen a King for the people 
— a fine, strong youth called Saul. For some 
years Saul's rule had been good, but now he was 
doing many wrong things; so God had told Samuel 
that He had chosen another King, whom Samuel 
was to anoint with the oil that he carried so care¬ 
fully in the horn. And this new King was one of 
the sons of Jesse, the Bethlehemite, the grandson 
of Boaz and Ruth. 

“ I knew it! ” cried Betty. 

“ Knew what? ” demanded the story-teller. 

“ That the story was to be about Samuel.” 

“ Partly so, Blue Eyes,” admitted Uncle Jim. 
“ But the Little Harpist of the Hills is quite an¬ 
other person. To resume: 

“ So Samuel, sad at heart because of Saul’s fail¬ 
ure, went down to the village of Bethlehem, and 
called Jesse and his sons to come and sacrifice 
before God. They came, with all the elders and 
other people of the village; and Samuel stood by 
the place of sacrifice with the horn of oil in his 
hand. 

“ Then, in obedience to what Samuel told him, 
Jesse made his sons pass before the prophet one 
by one. Eliab, a tall handsome man, came first. 
And Samuel, remembering that Saul had been 
chosen for his strength and beauty, said to him- 

149 


THE HARPIST OF THE HILLS 


self, ‘ Surely this is the chosen King! ’ But he 
heard the voice of God whisper: 

“ ‘ Look not on his face, nor at his height and 
strength! He is not My chosen one! Man look- 
eth upon the eyes, but the Lord looketh into the 
heart! ’ 

“ Then Jesse called his second son, who was also 
big and fine, and made him pass before Samuel. 
But Samuel shook his head, and said: 

“ ‘ Neither hath the Lord chosen this man! 9 

“ So, one by one, the seven sons stood before 
Samuel, and then passed on. And Samuel said 
to Jesse: 

“ ‘ The Lord hath not chosen these! Are these 
all thy children?’ 

“ Jesse answered in surprise: ‘ There is only the 
youngest left. And he is a mere shepherd-boy, 
out in the pastures with the sheep.’ 

“ But Samuel commanded Jesse to send for the 
shepherd-boy, and told everybody to wait until 
he came. 

“ So messengers were sent for Jesse’s youngest 
son, and, by and by, up to the quiet place of 
sacrifice, breaking the silence among the little 
group of waiting men, floated the trembling music 
of a harp. And then, playing his pretty tunes, 
and walking with a springing step along the hilly 

ISO 


THE HARPIST OF THE HILLS 


path that led from the pastures, came David, the 
shepherd-boy, into the midst of them. 

“ Such a fine, fair lad he was, with bright eyes, 
rosy cheeks, and slim, active limbs. His little 
sheepskin coat lay on his shoulders, and his harp 
was in his hands. All eager and curious he came; 
and Samuel, the moment he saw him, heard the 
whisper of God: 

“ ‘ Arise! Anoint him! For this is he! ’ ” 

“ Oh, I know now!” cried Betty, her eyes 
suddenly lighting up. 

“ So do I,” added Dick. “ It is David, the 
youngest son of Jesse. I remember now that you 
told us about David last year when you gave us 
‘ Lmcle Jim’s Bible Stories.’ Didn’t you? ” 

“ Discovered! ” exclaimed LTncle Jim so dramat¬ 
ically that even Mrs. Burroughs laughed heartily 
in chorus with the children. “ Yes, David is the 
beloved little hero of our story for this morning, 
and when Samuel heard the whisper of God, he 
knew who it was that he was to anoint — the 
lad who one day was to be a king. You see, 
children, God seeks his own from humble places. 

“ So, in the presence of the seven brothers, and 
of their father Jesse, the old priest went to meet 
the shepherd-lad. He raised the horn of oil, and 
anointed David. And the perfume of myrrh and 

151 


THE HARPIST OF THE HILLS 


aloes and cassia flowed over the boy’s garments as 
David, wide-eyed and wondering, let Samuel touch 
his hair, and his lips, and his fingers with the fra¬ 
grant golden liquid. And then the Spirit of God 
came upon David. Awed, yet happy, he went 
back again to his sheep. 

“ There he stayed in the pasture, day after day, 
watching the flocks, and keeping them in place by 
means of stones from his sling. If a sheep strayed 
too far from the others, David would fit a big 
round stone into the sling, and carefully fling the 
pebble right in front of the wandering ewe or 
lamb. And when the stone fell before it, knock¬ 
ing up little bits of grass and earth, the sheep, 
though quite unhurt, would be frightened, and 
turn to run back to the flock. In this way the 
shepherd-boy grew very skilful with his sling. 
And always, morning and evening, he led the 
sheep with the music of his harp. 

“ Most of the shepherd-boys in Canaan could 
play on little pipes; and the flocks knew the sound 
and would come to the music. But David, with 
his harp, made lovelier melodies than all the rest. 
So when he led his sheep either to the pastures or 
to the fold, the sweetest tunes would echo over 
the quiet valleys and the slopes of the hills. And 
the people who heard the music as they went home 

152 


THE HARPIST OF THE HILLS 


at night after cutting their corn, or winnowing 
their barley, would know that David passed 
among them in the twilight, playing his harp.” 

“ It seems to me that David was altogether too 
sweet and gentle to be a king in those days,” inter¬ 
rupted Dick. “ I should say that the people 
needed a man who could lead them into battle — 
who could fight for them, and — ” 

“You will see, Son,” answered Uncle Jim. 
“ Don’t you think God knew whom he was 
choosing and why? ” 

“ Of course he did, Dick,” spoke up Betty. 

“ I didn’t think before I spoke,” admitted Dick 
a little crestfallen. “ Please go on, Father.” 

“ Sometimes,” resumed Uncle Jim, “ he had to 
take his sheep and goats into lonely places where 
wild beasts lived in caves among the rocks. And, 
one night, a lion came out of one of these caves, 
with a bear close behind. The lion went stealth¬ 
ily into the middle of the flock, and snatched up 
a little kid in its cruel mouth. The bear would 
have done the same, but brave young David 
rushed up to the lion and seized the kid. Then 
he caught the great beast by its beard, struck it, 
and slew it as it struggled. He did the same to 
the bear; and so, through his skill and bravery, 
the sheep and kids and lambs were saved. 

153 


THE HARPIST OF THE HILLS 


“ And all the time that David led his sheep 
among the green pastures and beside the still 
waters, where they could feed peacefully and drink 
at their ease, he was the anointed King of Israel, 
who was, one day, to reign over the whole land. 

“ So the weeks passed, and David’s mind was 
always quiet and happy and full of peace; because, 
as you know, the Spirit of God had come upon 
him. But every bit of Saul’s ease of heart was 
gone; for, from him, the Spirit of God had de¬ 
parted. Evil thoughts tormented him, and 
troubled fancies filled his brain. So that his ser¬ 
vants said an evil demon had been sent into the 
King. 

“ Then they went to Saul and told him of their 
fears for him. ‘ Behold, O lord the King! 9 they 
said. ‘An evil spirit from God troubleth thee! 
So let us, thy servants, seek out somebody who is 
a sweet player upon the harp, that, by his music, 
thou mayest be made well.’ 

“ When Saul consented, they told him that the 
young son of Jesse, the Bethlehemite, was fair to 
look at, brave and strong. And, they added, he 
could play very beautifully upon the harp. v For 
everybody in the neighborhood knew the sound of 
David’s music, and found something strangely 
beautiful in its notes. 


154 


THE HARPIST OF THE HILLS 


“ So Saul sent messages to Jesse, saying: ‘ Send 
thy son, David the shepherd-boy, to me! ’ 

“ You may imagine how surprised Jesse was to 
receive such a message, and how he wondered what 
it meant. He called David from the pastures and 
told him he was to go to the royal house, for 
Saul had sent for him. And he loaded an ass with 
presents for Saul — fine white bread and sweet red 
wine. He sent the King a little kid as well. And 
so, taking all these gifts, David set out to obey the 
summons of the King. 

“ When Saul saw David, with his bright eyes 
and rosy cheeks and quick springing footsteps, he 
felt a great love for the shepherd-boy spring up 
in his heart. And he took David into his service, 
and made him his armor-bearer.” 

“ Father, do you mean to say that David killed 
a lion and a bear with his hands? ” questioned 
Dick, whose face was a picture of amazement. 

“ Yes, Son.” 

“ How wonderful,” breathed Betty. “ And did 
David tend his flocks just the same after he had 
been anointed King? ” 

“Yes, and he was one day to reign over the 
land as King of Israel,” Uncle Jim informed them. 

Somehow Betty could not reconcile the sweet 
harpist of the hills with the brave youth who slew 

155 


THE HARPIST OF THE HILLS 

two wild beasts, and the more she thought over 
the subject, the more marvelous did it seem. 

“ What happened to David after he became 
Saul's armor-bearer? ” asked Dick. 

“ That is still another story, Dick. I will tell 
it to you this afternoon. Just now I must stop 
and write some business letters. We will call the 
afternoon's story, ‘ Goliath, the Story of the 
Giant's Last Battle,’ " concluded Uncle Jim. 


*56 


GOLIATH 

THE STORY OF THE GIANT’S LAST BATTLE 

T HE afternoon was nearing a close when Uncle 
Jim called the children out to the porch. 

“ It is cooler now, so suppose we stroll about the 
orchard while I am telling you the story of David 
and the Giant,” he suggested. 

Betty and Dick thought that would be fine, 
and Betty was enthusiastic over the plan. So, 
with Dick on one side, Betty on the other, their 
arms linked in his, Uncle Jim strolled out into the 
cooling shade of the fragrant orchard and began 
his story. 

“ I told you this morning that David became 
Saul’s armor-bearer, and that Saul loved him very 
much,” began Uncle Jim in his soothing voice, as 
they walked slowly along. 

“ Then, when the evil spirit came to the King, 
and tormented him, so that he was worn out with 
sad and troubled thoughts, he would tell David 
to play on the harp. And all through the royal 
rooms the sweet music floated, just as it had 

157 


GOLIATH 


traveled across the Bethlehem valleys and hills. 
Perhaps David sang sometimes as well — perhaps 
his lips formed the very psalms that he wrote 
when he was older. Who knows? He may 
have hushed Saul's sorrow with the words, ‘ The 
Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He 
maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He 
leadeth me beside the still waters; He restoreth 
my soul! ’ For we know that the Spirit of God 
was in David, and when he played Saul was re¬ 
freshed and made well and filled with all his old 
content. 

“ But how little the monarch, listening to 
David's tunes, guessed that the shepherd-boy had 
been anointed King of Israel in his own stead! 

“ Soon afterwards, w r hen David had gone back 
to his sheep, the Sea-Robbers once again came 
across the border, bringing a great army to over¬ 
throw Saul's kingdom. Among them was a 
mighty champion, a giant called Goliath, who 
wore a curious brass helmet and an enormous coat 
of mail. He had brass from his knees to his feet, 
and a brass breast-plate, and he carried a huge 
spear and a sword, also. And his shield-bearer 
went before him. 

“ He stood out, morning and evening, for every¬ 
body to see, in front of the glittering ranks of 

158 



DAVID, THE SWEET SINGER OF ISRAEL. 















































































GOLIATH 


the Sea-Robbers, and he called to the armies of 
Israel, opposite, crying: 

“ ‘ Choose a man of yourselves, 0 Israelites, who 
will come, single-handed, and fight with me! If 
he can kill me, then we will be your servants. 
But if I kill him, then you and your armies shall 
be subject to us for evermore! ’ 

“ And all the people of Israel looked at the great 
giant, in his strong glittering armor. But not 
one of them dared go out, single-handed, to give 
Goliath battle. 

“ So morning and evening, for forty days, the 
Philistine giant sent his proud cry ringing across 
the space between the two armies. David’s three 
eldest brothers were among the Israelite soldiers; 
but, although they were tall and strong, each was 
afraid to go out alone and fight the giant. 

“ Forty days!” exclaimed Dick. “ I should 
think Goliath’s voice would have given out.” 

“ Goliath was a bad man, and I know what 
happened to him, but I’m not going to tell,” 
chirped Betty. 

“ Then one day,” continued Uncle Jim, frot 
heeding the interruption, “ the shepherd-boy came 
to visit them from his father’s pastures, bringing 
them and their captain gifts of cheeses and barley- 
bread. 

i59 

11 — Uncle Jim's Stories from Old Testament. 


GOLIATH 


“As David stood talking to his brothers the 
proud cry came, as usual, ringing across from the 
Philistines’ camp: 

“ ‘ Choose a man of yourselves, O Israelites, who 
will come single-handed and fight with me! ’ 

“David, looking up, saw, standing out from 
among the ranks of the enemy, the great, haughty, 
armored giant! 

“ The shepherd-boy gazed first at the giant and 
then at his brothers and their companions. He 
was amazed because nobody was brave enough 
to answer the proud and defiant call. But when 
he asked how it was, his brothers were angry with 
him, and said he had left home only that he might 
see a battle. So David inquired from everybody 
else the reason why no one went out and killed 
Goliath. At last Saul himself heard of the young 
shepherd-lad who was so surprised at his soldiers’ 
want of courage. 

“ Saul sent for David; but he did not recognize 
his former harp-player at all. He asked many 
questions, and the shepherd youth said quite 
simply, in reply, that as nobody else would do so 
he was prepared to go out and fight Goliath 
himself. 

“ Everybody, including Saul, shook their heads, 
and they half-smiled, and said: ‘ Goliath is a great 

160 


GOLIATH 


giant, trained to be a soldier! You are only a 
stripling! He would kill you, instead of you 
killing him! ’ 

“ But brave young David persisted. And at 
last Saul, looking at him admiringly though 
anxiously, said: 

“ ‘ Go, then! And the Lord be with you! ’ 

“ So the King told his armor-bearer to put his 
own royal coat of mail upon David and to give 
him his breast-plate, his helmet, and his spear. 
But when David tried them on they were too large 
and heavy for him. He put them off and said that 
he could not wear them. 

“ Then the shepherd-boy, in his simple shep¬ 
herd’s smock, went down to the brook in the 
valley, chose five big smooth stones, and put them 
into the bag in which he used to carry his food. 
With his sling in one hand and his shepherd’s staff 
in the other, he went out in front of both armies, 
and stood where the great giant could see him.” 

“ Oh, what a wonderful boy!” cried Betty. 
“Wasn’t he afraid of that terrible giant, Uncle 
Jim? ” 

“ No. David’s trust was in God, and in his own 
skill with the sling. 

“ Then Goliath came marching across the open 
space, with his shield-bearer in front. He looked 

161 


GOLIATH 


in angry scorn at the fair-headed, bright-cheeked 
lad with the sling and the staff. 

“ ‘ You come out with a stick as if you meant 
to beat a dog ! 1 cried the contemptuous giant. 
‘ Come a little nearer, and I will give your dead 
body to the birds of the air and the wild beasts 
of the field! ’ 

“ But David answered steadily: ‘ I come to 
you, not in my strength, but in the name of the 
Lord God of all armies! ’ 

“ Then all at once he darted forward, fitting a 
stone into his sling as he ran. Just before he 
came within reach of the giant’s spear, he slung 
the stone with his old, well-known, skilful move¬ 
ment, and the stone struck the great Philistine on 
the forehead, above his eyes. 

“ Goliath fell forward, and lay unconscious upon 
the ground, his brass helmet pressing down and 
hiding the deep wound. Then David leaped upon 
the prostrate form, and, seizing the giant’s own 
sword, drew it from the sheath and cut off Go¬ 
liath’s head. And the whole army of the Philis¬ 
tines, when they saw that their great champion 
was killed, turned and fled. 

“ The Israelites, with great shouts, pursued 
them. But David was led before Saul, carrying 
Goliath’s head in his hand. 

162 


GOLIATH 


“ Then Saul, in a bewildered manner, gazed at 
the lad, and seemed to recall his face. Looking 
from David's frank, brave countenance to the 
bleeding head of the terrible giant, he said con¬ 
fusedly: ‘ Whose son art thou, young man? ' 

“ And David, quite simply, answered, ‘ I am the 
son of thy servant, Jesse the Bethlehemite.' 

“ In this way Saul knew that the lad who had 
slain the mighty Philistine giant was the youth 
who had once been his armor-bearer, and had 
driven the spirit of misery from him with the 
sweet music of his harp. 

“ David lived for a long time with Saul and his 
son Jonathan, and, in the end, he became King 
of Israel himself. 

“ When he was King, he took the Holy Tent of 
God to Jerusalem, and set it up there. And 
Solomon, his son, made a beautiful Temple for 
the Golden Ark, which you must read about 
in the Bible, for it w^ould take too long for me to 
describe it. And, as well as the Temple, Solomon 
built a palace of cedar wood, and sat to give judg¬ 
ment on an ivory throne, with carved lions on each 
side of the steps that led to it. In the gardens 
were peacocks, and strange monkeys clambered 
among the trees; and his stables were full of 

[163 


GOLIATH 


horses, and his chariots were most magnificent, 
and kings and queens came to see his glory. Yet 
he never loved the Lord as faithfully as did his 
father, who had once been a shepherd-boy of 
Bethlehem, leading his sheep to pasture with the 
music of his harp.” 

“ Who would think that the sweet David could 
be so ferocious,” marveled Betty. 

“ No. Not that,” objected Dick. “ He was 
fighting God’s battle. Isn’t that right, Father? ” 

“ It is, Son. He not only could drive the evil 
spirits from the King with the harp, but he could 
slay a giant with a stone from his sling. He was 
one of the most remarkable of the Bible char¬ 
acters,” answered Dick’s father. 

“ Uncle Jim, what is meant by ‘ being possessed 
of an evil spirit,’ the kind that David chased out 
of the King with his harp? ” asked Betty. 

“ Well — well, Blue Eyes, I don’t know that any 
of us can answer that question correctly. I should 
imagine, though, that it meant a bad attack of 
temper — rage such as perhaps you fly into once 
in a while. Eh, Betty? ” Uncle Jim’s eyes 
twinkled. 

“ Yes, I do,” was Betty’s frank admission, the 
color rising to her forehead. “ But I think that if 
I had a David to play soft music for me on the 

164 


GOLIATH 


harp, the evil spirit would run away from me y 
too,” she added, then pouted when the others 
smiled at her words. 

Uncle Jim then announced that the story for the 
next day would be, “ The Ivory Palace, the Story 
of Ahab’s Punishment.” 


THE IVORY PALACE 

THE STORY OF AHAb’s PUNISHMENT 


4 6 TJFERE’S a surprise, Uncle Jim,” cried 
XjL Betty, who for the first time since his 
arrival had gotten down to breakfast ahead of 
Uncle Jim and Dick. 

“ Indeed it is a surprise to find you up so early,” 
he admitted, giving the little girl a hearty good¬ 
morning kiss. “ How did you ever manage it? ” 

“ I didn’t. Mother did it,” confessed Betty. 

“ So that’s it, eh? ” laughed Uncle Jim. 

“Yes. But that isn’t the surprise I meant. 
The one I mean is a real one, and when you hear 
about it you will be just as surprised and happy as 
I am,” she promised. 

“ Don’t keep me in suspense. What is it? ” 
begged Dick. 

“ A picnic! There now. I knew it would make 
you glad, Dick Burroughs. Yes, Uncle Jim, 
Mother has arranged for all of us to go to the 
Glen. We are to eat our luncheon there, then 
our Uncle Jim is going to entertain us with stories 

166 


THE IVORY PALACE 


all the rest of the day. Won’t that be perfectly 
adorable? ” chattered Betty. 

“ Quite so/’ agreed Uncle Jim dryly. 

As they entered the breakfast room, Betty an¬ 
nounced that Mother had the luncheon prepared 
and packed in baskets, which Dick and his father 
were to carry. After they were seated at the 
breakfast table, Mrs. Burroughs confirmed what 
Betty had told them. 

Immediately after breakfast they started out 
across the fields, Mrs. Burroughs leading the way 
to a wooded ravine that was cool and inviting with 
its restful greens and deep, silent shadows. They 
continued on until they reached a beautiful water¬ 
fall that cascaded down the rocky sides of the glen, 
finally breaking into a cloud of silver spray that 
caught the sun’s rays and became a drifting rain¬ 
bow of many colors. 

Betty and Dick immediately took off their shoes 
and stockings and waded into the pool at the foot 
of the rainbow. They paddled about until their 
feet were numb with cold. They then raced up 
and down the steep banks, played “ Hiding from 
the Sea-Robbers,” as Betty called it, and made 
believe that the Philistines were chasing them. 
Mrs. Burroughs and Uncle Jim spent the time 
talking. 


167 


THE IVORY PALACE 

It was queer, but noon came, or seemed to come, 
in just a few quick little minutes after the party 
arrived at the Glen. The luncheon was then laid 
on a flat rock, and Betty and Dick sat down with¬ 
out waiting to be asked. So hungry were they 
that they could hardly sit still while Uncle Jim 
was saying grace. My, what appetites they did 
have that noon, and Dick declared that never had 
there been anything made that was so delicious 
as Mrs. Burroughs’ egg sandwiches. Betty said 
nothing. She was too busy to talk, and the dainty 
picnic luncheon disappeared with magical quick¬ 
ness. 

“ Now I am ready for a story,” announced Dick 
as he finished and tossed his wadded-up paper 
napkin into the pool at the foot of the cascade. 
“ How about you, Betty? ” 

“ I am so contented that I could just die listen¬ 
ing to a story,” replied Betty. 

“ If you are thinking of doing anything like 
that, I don’t believe I shall care to tell a story,” 
objected Uncle Jim in mock-seriousness. 

“ Oh, please do, Uncle. We want to hear all 
about the Ivory Palace and things,” urged Betty. 
“ I promise to be very good and very quiet. 
Please, Uncle! ” 

“ Very well. I know of no more beautiful set- 

168 


THE IVORY PALACE 


ting for a Bible story than this, one of God’s gar¬ 
dens,” he replied, pausing and gazing thoughtfully 
about him. “ It prepares your mind for what I 
am about to describe. 

“ Can you picture to yourselves, children, a 
beautiful palace of ivory? And can you imagine 
it set among pink almond-blossoms, and evergreen 
laurels, and old gnarled fig trees, while grassy 
slopes around it are filled with the music of nearly 
a hundred brooks? Can you picture that in 
your minds? ” asked Uncle Jim. 

“Yes,” breathed Betty. “It is a beautiful 
picture, too; so beautiful that it almost makes one 
forget that wonderful rainbow yonder.” 

“ Father, were the floors of the palace made of 
ivory also? ” questioned Dick. 

“ Yes, Son.” 

“ They must have been awful slippery,” ven¬ 
tured Dick. “ Please go on, Father.” 

Without rebuking the children for interrupting 
him, L^ncle Jim resumed his story. 

“ Such was the house of Ahab, King of Samaria, 
which he had built in the royal city raised up by 
his father, King Omri, among the beautiful mead¬ 
ows of Shechem, where little Joseph had once 
wandered in search of his brothers and their 
flocks of sheep. Not very far away was Joseph’s 

169 


THE IVORY PALACE 


grave, for the Children of Israel had brought back 
all that was left of the body of their great fore¬ 
father almost to the very spot where the Ishmael- 
ites had bought and taken him away to Egypt. A 
wide-spreading oak hard by was Jacob's oak, and 
under its branches stood a tall pillar of stone. 
Every child who passed by the pillar knew that it 
had been set up there by Joshua, and that, before 
he had raised it, he had gathered the Israelites to¬ 
gether to remind them of their old, old promise to 
worship Jehovah, and Jehovah alone. ‘ This stone 
has heard your words,' he had said. ‘ It shall 
always stand under the oak in witness.’ So there 
it stood, with the Holy Tent not very far above it. 

“ Ahab, living in his ivory palace, ruled over 
ten tribes of Israel — ten tribes who had rebelled 
against the royal family of David at Jerusalem. 
But Ahab cared nothing for the grave, sweet 
memories of the shepherd-princes, of whom the 
people told so many stories in the valley below. 
The King of Samaria had married a wife from 
among the heathen rulers, a princess called Jeze¬ 
bel, who did not believe in the God of Isaac 
and Jacob, but only worshiped the sun and the 
moon. 

“ Persuaded by Jezebel, Ahab made a great 
temple on the hill, in honor of ‘ Baal.’ ” 

170 


THE IVORY PALACE 


“ Such funny things to worship. Who was 
Baal, L T ncle? ” again interrupted Betty. 

“A false god,” spoke up Dick. 

“ Yes, and something more,” Uncle Jim in¬ 
formed them. “ The word Baal means ‘ master ’ 
or ‘power’ — and Jezebel believed that all the 
power of life fell to earth from the sky in the rays 
of the sun and the moon. 

“ So, within Baal’s temple were set up strange 
idols made of ebony. A great poet, Jeremiah, de¬ 
scribed these idols long afterwards and said that 
they were as upright as palm-trees, and robed in 
crimson and purple, and decked with silver and 
gold. Chains and nails held them in their places, 
and on men’s shoulders were they borne, because 
of themselves they could neither come nor go. 
Four hundred and fifty priests were put into the 
temple, to hold services in honor of these enormous 
statues, carved and decorated by the hands and 
tools of men. How different from the old pure 
worship of the true God, who had told the 
Israelites that they must never bow down to a 
‘ graven image.’ ” 

“ It is a wonder that God did not punish Ahab 
and his wife,” observed Dick. 

“ I think that Ahab was more to blame than 
Jezebel,” declared Betty. 

171 


THE IVORY PALACE 


“ As to that, I can’t say,” replied Uncle Jim. 
“ God, however, did punish both, as you will see. 

“ Every day, then, Ahab and Jezebel and their 
household went in procession to the big temple, 
and worshiped the image of the sun-god, or the 
statue of the goddess of the moon. Then Ahab 
was escorted by servants to his ivory porch, where 
he sat on a throne and settled matters that were 
brought before him by his people. One morning, 
as he was giving his judgments, a stranger, 
wrapped in a mantle, mounted the steps that led 
up to the entrance of the porch; Ahab, from his 
throne, watched the stranger come. He would 
wonder very much who it could be, for the people 
of the desert were not ruled by the Kings of 
Samaria. He waited, however, to hear his ser¬ 
vants proclaim the stranger’s name. 

“ The servants spoke to the man in the mantle, 
and then they announced him: 

“ ‘ Elijah, the Tishbite, who has come here from 
Gilead, asks audience of the King! ’ 

“ Ahab looked inquiringly at the newcomer, 
and everybody else stood listening. Then Elijah 
raised his arm before the King and pointed to the 
temple where the people worshiped the sun and 
the moon. 

“ ‘ As the Lord God of Israel liveth,’ he cried in 

172 


THE IVORY PALACE 


a loud voice, ‘ the God before whom I stand! 
There shall be neither dew nor rain in the land 
until the Lord sends it once more in answer to my 
prayer! 9 

“ Then, before the King and the courtiers had 
recovered from their amazement, he turned away, 
and went down the hill again to the plains. 
And Ahab was left to his worship of the statues 
of the sun-god and the goddess of the moon. 

“ Did it turn out as Elijah said it would? ” ques¬ 
tioned Dick eagerly. 

“ Yes, Son. 

“ From that day all the moisture in the land 
began to dry up. No soft, warm rain fell from 
the sky in the day-time, and, worse still, no silvery 
dew spangled the grass at night. All the little 
bubbling streams that flowed by the ivory palace 
disappeared from their pebbly beds. Hot and 
cruel, like a great ball of brass, t‘he sun stared 
down on the scorched meadows where Joseph’s 
young feet had trodden among the flowers; cold 
and cruel, and without any softness, the moon 
glittered through the fading leaves of Jacob’s oak. 

“ Ahab and Jezebel, who thought that Elijah 
had done all this, searched the whole land through 
to find him. Jezebel wanted to put him to death 
with the other prophets. Only Obadiah, the 

173 


THE IVORY PALACE 


governor, hid a hundred of these prophets, for 
he knew that there was a God who was far above 
the sun and the moon.” 

“ And where was Elijah all this time? ” asked 
Dick. % 

“ He was hidden in a cave by the rushing, leap¬ 
ing waters of the brook Cherith. Great rocks 
overhung the gorge through which the stream 
ran, and black ravens nested among the crags. 
And the ravens, commanded by God, every morn¬ 
ing and evening brought bread and meat to Eli¬ 
jah, while, to quench his thirst, he drank the cold 
water from the stream. 

“ By and by, because there was still no rain 
in the land, even the deep churning brook of 
Cherith dried up, and Elijah was taken care of, 
for a time, by a widow. She had only a little food 
left in the house when he went to her. But, so 
long as he lived there, the food, by a miracle, never 
grew less. 

“ Then the time came when God told Elijah to 
go to Ahab again. 

“ Ahab, when he saw the prophet, was afraid, 
but he dared not do anything to him now. Every¬ 
body was dying of famine under the sun and 
moon; for, without rain and dew, nothing would 
grow. The King asked Elijah if it were he that 

i74 


THE IVORY PALACE 


was troubling Israel. But Elijah told Ahab that 
the trouble had come through himself. 

“ Then the four hundred and fifty priests of the 
sun-god went with Elijah and Ahab to Mount 
Carmel, a mountain with rugged slopes and deep 
gorges, from the top of which you could see the 
purple sea. And the priests of the sun and moon 
gods laid their sacrifice upon an altar. 

“ All day they cried to their idols to send down 
fire on to the altar; but no fire came. Then 
towards evening, Elijah built an altar of twelve 
stones, and had a great trench dug round it, and 
made the people fill the trench with water from a 
strange deep well on the top of Mount Carmel. 
And he put his sacrifice upon the altar, and cried 
out to the great God whom Ahab had forgotten. 

“ And the fire of the Lord fell upon Elijah’s 
altar; and it burnt up the sacrifice, and shone in 
triumphant glory on the awed face of Ahab, and 
the frightened countenances of the sun-god 
priests, and the grave glad eyes of Elijah. The 
brightness sent shadows flickering among the 
dying trees, so that to those who watched in the 
hot parched valley below it must have seemed 
a beacon-light of hope and joy. 

“ Then Elijah had the four hundred and fifty 
priests taken down into the valley and put to 

i75 

i 12 — Uncle Jim's Stories from Old Testament. 


THE IVORY PALACE 


death. And Elijah told Ahab that the fire that 
had fallen from heaven was a promise from the 
Most High God that He would no longer leave 
the land to the mercy of the false idols, but would 
send His refreshing dews to it once more. 

“ ‘ Arise, eat and drink! ’ said Elijah to Ahab, 
‘ for there is a sound of abundance of rain/ 

“ So Ahab was comforted, and Elijah went back 
to the top of Mount Carmel with his servant, and 
began to pray. He said to the servant, ‘ Go, and 
look towards the sea! ’ The servant went, and 
came back, saying, ‘ There is nothing/ Seven 
times Elijah told him to go. And the seventh 
time the servant returned, and cried: ‘ Behold! 
There ariseth out of the sea a little cloud, like a 
man's hand! * 

“ Then Elijah bade him hurry down to Ahab in 
the valley and say that the storm was coming. 
Almost immediately the clouds rushed up, black 
and strong, the winds blew, and the heavens 
seemed to open. Down upon the parched, weary, 
thirsty earth, left so long to the burning sun and 
the cold white moon alone, fell the silver torrents 
of merciful rain. And Ahab sprang into his 
chariot, and fled home before the valley was quite 
flooded; while Elijah ran before him, fleeter and 
stronger than even the horses of the King/' 

176 


THE IVORY PALACE 


" I guess Ahab and Jezebel got enough water to 
satisfy them,” declared Dick with emphasis. 
“ And could Elijah run faster than Ahab's swift 
chariot horses? ” 

“ Yes, Son.” 

Dick looked his amazement. 

“ Uncle Jim, I don't understand about the fire 
that came down and burned up the sacrifice. 
What was it? ” begged Betty. 

“ It was the fire from Heaven — God's fire,” 
answered Uncle Jim. “ Do you children wish to 
hear another story, or would you prefer to run 
away and play? ” 

“ Another story,” cried Dick and Betty in 
chorus. 

“ Yes, James. Tell them another. We have 
the afternoon before us,” added Mrs. Burroughs. 

“ 1 The Mantle of Elijah,' then, will be the next 
story,” announced Uncle Jim. “ It is ‘ The Story 
of a Wonderful Miracle.'” 


*11 


THE MANTLE OF ELIJAH 


THE STORY OF A WONDERFUL MIRACLE 

4C T | THIS story, children, is more about Elijah 
JL and his pupil. I believe I told you of 
Elijah when reading ‘ Uncle Jim’s Bible Stories ’ 
to you last summer. However, you won’t mind 
hearing about this great man again, especially so 
because I shall tell you many new and interesting 
things. It really will be a new story,” Uncle Jim 
informed Dick and Betty. 

“ Oh, goodie! I just love to hear about that 
wonderful man,” bubbled Betty Burroughs, bob¬ 
bing her head up and down vigorously. Betty 
nodded for two reasons — to give emphasis to her 
words, and further because she was just a little 
bit sleepy. The exercise from running up and 
down the steep sides of the ravine, together with 
the hearty luncheon that she had eaten, made 
Betty very weary, but she was all eagerness to 
hear more. 

“ Why not tell us something of Ahab and 
Jezebel? ” suggested Dick. 

178 



THE MANTLE OF ELIJAH 


“ Perhaps later on, Son. Just now we are to 
hear about Elijah. I will now begin, so please 
give me your close attention, for I wish you both 
to remember all about this great and good man to 
whom God gave the power to bring the dead back 
to life.” 

“ We are listening, Uncle Jim,” murmured 
Betty, as a reminder that it was time for him to 
begin the story. 

“ The sun was beating down on the plains one 
day as a long train of oxen, yoked two and two, 
were drawing their ploughs over a wide-stretching 
field. Each plough was guided by a man in a 
loose blue cotton robe, with a white cloth wound 
about his head. Elijah stood on the edge of the 
field, and watched the oxen and their drivers pass,” 
said Uncle Jim. 

“ Slowly the long train moved on. As the last 
ploughman drew near to the prophet, Elijah took 
off his mantle and laid it upon the laborer’s 
shoulders.” 

“ Why did Elijah do that? ” demanded Betty, 
sitting up with newly aroused interest. 

“ That was Elijah’s sign that the ploughman 
had been called to God’s service,” explained Uncle 

Jim. 

“And didn’t the ploughman object to leaving 

179 


THE MANTLE OF ELIJAH 


his oxen and going away with Elijah? ” wondered 
Betty. 

“ Yes. I was going to ask you what the man 
did/’ added Dick. 

“ The man left his oxen and his plough, went 
and said farewell to his people, and followed 
Elijah until the day that God took the great 
prophet to Himself," said Uncle Jim. 

“ The ploughman's name was Elisha, and week 
after week he went with Elijah, as the prophet 
traveled from place to place. Then one day, 
while they talked together, a chariot and horses 
of fire suddenly appeared between them and di¬ 
vided them. Then came the sound of a whirlwind, 
and, in the fire and the whirlwind, Elijah was 
carried up to heaven and was no longer seen by 
his disciple. Only his long mantle had fallen 
from him and lay upon the ground. Elisha lifted 
it wonderingly and reverently, as something left 
to him by his great teacher." 

“ Did a chariot with horses really come down to 
take Elijah to heaven? " wondered Betty. 

“ Yes, Blue Eyes. Chariot and horses of fire." 

“ How perfectly wonderful," marveled Betty. 
“ I should think the fire would have burned Elijah 
to death." 

“ God's fire destroys only as he wills that it 

180 


THE MANTLE OF ELIJAH 


should,” replied Uncle Jim. “ You will recall how 
it consumed Elijah’s sacrifice on the altar, which 
I told you about in the previous story.” 

“ Yes,” nodded Dick. 

“ And did Elijah really go to heaven without 
first dying? ” persisted Betty. 

“ Yes. And, so far as we know, he is the only 
person in the history of the world who ever 
reached heaven that way,” added Uncle Jim. 

“ Oh, how wonderful! ” cried Betty. 

“ From that time the power of Elijah entered 
into Elisha, and he was able to work the same 
kind of miracles. There were other prophets in 
Israel, but none so powerful. All the good people 
who loved God looked to Elisha to help them. 
So he was not at all surprised when one day a 
poor woman, the widow of a dead prophet, came 
to him in very great distress to ask for aid. 

“ ‘ Thy servant, my husband, is dead,’ she said 
pitifully. ‘ Thou knowest that he was a good 
man. But he was poor, and he died owing money, 
and the man to whom he owed the money has 
come to take my two little sons, and he will sell 
them, my children whom I love, to be slaves! ’ 

“ Sell them? Sell the widow’s children? ” ex¬ 
claimed Betty in amazement. 

“ Yes. For this was done, in those days, if any- 

'Sfil 


THE MANTLE OF ELIJAH 


one owed money when he died, and if his sons 
were too young to work and pay off the debt. So 
the poor widow was in the deepest distress. Elisha 
looked at her compassionately, and answered: 

“ ‘ Let me think what I can do for you. What 
have you in your house? ’ 

“ The woman shook her head sadly. ‘ I have 
nothing! ’ she said. ‘ Just one little pot of oil! ’ 

“ Then Elisha gave her a very strange com¬ 
mand. 

“ 4 Go and borrow all the pots, and the jugs, 
and the basins, and the drinking-cups that you 
can/ said he. ‘ Visit all your neighbors, and ask 
them to lend you every empty dish they have. 
Then go back into your house and shut the door, 
with no one but yourself and your sons inside. 
Set to work to fill the things you have borrowed 
by pouring out from your little pot of oil! And 
put them aside, as you fill them, one by one.’ ” 

“ That was a strange thing to tell her to do,” 
spoke up Dick. 

“ Yes. Why did Elisha tell her to do that? ” 
wondered Betty. 

“ You will see in a moment. Do be patient,” 
was Uncle Jim’s smiling reply. 

“ So the poor widow did as Elisha told her. She 
nearly filled the one room of her little house with 

182 


THE MANTLE OF ELIJAH 


all the jugs and vases and big bowls that she bor¬ 
rowed from her neighbors. Then she and her 
sons shut the door, and shaded the window, and 
the little boys brought the rest of the borrowed 
dishes to their mother to be filled. 

“ The widow lifted the small pot and began to 
pour the oil into the big bowl that the children 
held. She poured and poured until it was full! 
Then the little boys put it carefully on one side 
and brought another. She filled that also, and 
so it went on, as her sons, wide-eyed with aston¬ 
ishment, brought basin after basin to her side, 
and she said, ‘ Bring me yet more! ’ Then one of 
the children answered: 

“ ‘ There is not a basin more! ’ 

“ Then she looked into the little pot and saw 
that, at last, it was empty! 

“ So the poor widow opened the door of the 
house, and went out and told the man of God. 
He said: ‘ Go, sell the oil, pay the debt, and with 
the rest of the money live thou and thy children 
in peace!’ ” 

“ Where did all the oil come from? ” asked 
Betty. 

“ From the little pot of oil, of course. Don’t 
you understand? ” chided Dick. 

“ No, I don’t.” 

183 


THE MANTLE OF ELIJAH 


“ It was a miracle, Blue Eyes,” Uncle Jim in¬ 
formed her. “ Elisha, as you now know, wore the 
mantle of Elijah, his great teacher, which means 
that he possessed all the powers of Elijah to work 
miracles. 

“ A little time afterwards Elisha came to a place 
called Shunem, where a rich woman lived. When¬ 
ever he passed her house she would call him in 
to eat and drink, and at last she had a little cham¬ 
ber built for the prophet against the wall of the 
house, and a bed put in it, with a chair and a table 
and a candlestick, so that at any time he might 
turn in there to rest and sleep. For she knew that 
he was a man of God, and that he traveled about 
working miracles in one place or another, and she 
wished to do him honor in every way she could. 

“ In return for her kindness, Elisha promised 
that she should have a little son — the child for 
whom she had longed for many, many years. 
How glad and happy she was, and how she loved 
and cherished her little boy when he was born! 
And all the time the small room was kept fur¬ 
nished and cared for, against the wall of the house, 
so that Elisha could go to it whenever he liked. 

“ One day, when the son of the sweet Shunam- 
mite lady had grown into a fine little lad, his 
father took him down into one of his fields to 

J84 


THE MANTLE OF ELIJAH 


watch the reapers. It was terribly hot, and all 
at once he fell down, crying out: 

“ 4 My head! oh, my head! , 

“ The father, in deep distress, had the little boy 
carried home to his mother. She took him into 
her arms and sat there, silently nursing him, until 
noon; and at noon he died. 

“ Then without a word or a tear, but with her 
face full of calm trust, she herself carried him to 
Elisha’s little room against the wall. She laid 
him down on the prophet’s narrow bed and went 
out, shutting the door behind her. 

“ Calling to her husband, she said: ‘Tell one 
of the servants to saddle an ass, and to accompany 
me. I am going to the man of God! ’ 

“ When her husband asked why, she only an¬ 
swered: ‘ It shall be well.’ 

“ So, followed by the servant, she rode away 
twenty miles across the hot plain to Mount Car¬ 
mel, where she knew Elisha was to be found. 

“ Elisha saw her coming, and sent his servant, 
Gehazi, to meet her, and to ask if all was well with 
her husband and child. But she only answered, 
hurriedly, ‘ It is well,’ and rode on. 

“ Then, when she came up to Elisha, she dis¬ 
mounted, and fell at his feet, and told him what 
had happened. 

185 


THE MANTLE OF ELIJAH 


“ Elisha gave Gehazi his staff, and sent him on 
to the house of the Shunammite lady, and told 
him to lay the staff on the face of the child. So 
Gehazi went. But the child’s mother would not 
go with him. 

“ ‘ As the Lord liveth, I will not leave thee! ’ 
she told Elisha. And at last Elisha rose up and 
followed her. 

“ As they drew near to the house Gehazi met 
them, and he told them that he had laid the staff 
on the face of the child, but that he had not 
awakened. 

“ Then Elisha himself went alone into his own 
room, where the little boy lay, and shut the door. 
He prayed, and stretched himself tenderly over 
the child, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, and hands 
to hands, and the little cold body began to grow 
warm. 

“ Elisha stood up again then, and walked about, 
and prayed. Then, once more, he pressed the 
little child closely to him. And the boy sneezed 
seven times, and opened his eyes! 

“ Then Elisha called Gehazi, and said to him: 

‘ Fetch his mother! 9 

“ And when she came, he told her: f Take up 
thy son! 9 

“ Then the good and gracious lady of the Shu^ 

186 


THE MANTLE OF ELIJAH 


nammites went in and bowed down, and knelt at 
the feet of Elisha; and, when she had bent before 
him in deep silence for a few minutes, she took 
her little living son in her arms and went out.” 

“ Oh, how beautiful! ” murmured Betty. “ He 
made the dead boy live, didn’t he, Uncle? ” 

“ Yes. It was one of Elisha’s greatest mir¬ 
acles.” 

Dick said that, while it was marvelous, the 
miracle of the oil was fully as great. 

“ What I mean is that, no human being to-day 
could do either one of them,” he added. 

“ Son, your reasoning is excellent,” approved 
Dick’s father. “ What impresses you the most 
in this story, Betty? ” 

“ The dear little fellow who came to life,” 
promptly replied Betty. 

“ And you, Dick? ” 

“ Well, while the miracles are wonderful, and 
all that, the big thing to me is the wonderful faith 
of the gracious Shunammite lady,” decided Dick 
thoughtfully. “ Without that faith on her part I 
do not believe that Elisha could have done what 
he did for her.” 

“Fine, Dick. Splendid!” cried Mrs. Bur¬ 
roughs, and Uncle Jim’s eyes lighted up with pride 
for his own son. 


187 


THE MANTLE OF ELIJAH 


“ I think I have told enough stories for one 1 
day,” announced Uncle Jim. “ Next time, but 
not now, I will tell you about ‘ The Queen of 
Judah, the Story of a Royal Baby/ Blue Eyes, 
you are interested in queens and I know you love 
babies, so I feel certain that you will love this 
one. Won’t you, Blue Eyes? ” 

There was no reply, and all eyes were instantly 
turned on Betty, who lay motionless with her 
yellow head pillowed on one arm. 

Betty Burroughs was fast asleep. 


188 


THE QUEEN OF JUDAH 

THE STORY OF A ROYAL BABY 

6 i T\T0,” said Uncle Jim Burroughs next mom- 
1M ing in response to Betty’s plea for an¬ 
other story. 

“ Please/’ begged the little girL 

Uncle Jim shook his head. 

“ Any little girl who goes to sleep while I am 
telling her a story isn’t interested at all,” he de¬ 
clared with strong emphasis. “ So you will have 
to do without a story — for the present,” he 
added. 

“ How long is ‘ for the present ’? ” asked Betty, 
who was not to be denied. 

“ Well, it might be five minutes; then again it 
might be five days,” replied Uncle Jim. “ I am 
inclined to think that ‘ the present ’ in this in¬ 
stance may be somewhere between the two.” 

“ Father, it is raining outdoors, and Betty and 
I can’t do anything at all except stay in the 
house,” reminded Dick. 

“ Six minutes is somewhere between the two. 

189 


THE QUEEN OF JUDAH 


Two minutes of the six are already gone,” an¬ 
nounced Betty, keenly regarding the clock. 
“ Mother. Please come in,” she called to Mrs. 
Burroughs who was in the kitchen. “ The Queen 
of Judah is coming this morning, and Uncle Jim is 
going to introduce us to her.” 

Mrs. Burroughs came in, wiping her hands on 
her apron, and laughing. 

“ What is it? ” she asked. 

“ The time is up, Uncle Jim,” reminded Betty, 
without giving anyone an opportunity to answer 
her mother’s question. “ Sit down, Mother and 
Dick,” she added, drawing up a hassock and sit¬ 
ting down at Uncle Jim’s feet. 

Uncle Jim Burroughs threw up his hands in 
despair. 

“ What is a person to do? ” he demanded. 
“ Very well, you shall have the story. But I warn 
you that if you dare to go to sleep again while I 
am talking to you, I’ll never tell you another 
story.” 

“Never, never!” repeated Betty. “I prom¬ 
ise, Uncle Jim, never to do such a thing again.” 
Betty smiled up so sweetly into his face that Uncle 
Jim leaned suddenly forward and touched her 
yellow curls with his lips. 

“ The queen that I am about to tell you of,” 

190 


THE QUEEN OF JUDAH 


he said, “ did not turn out very well, as you will 
learn in a few moments. I will now begin the 
story. 

“ King Ahab and Jezebel had a daughter who 
was called the Princess Athaliah,” he said. 
“ When she grew up she was married to the King 
of Judah. Very likely she brought great riches 
with her, for we know that the royal family to 
which Jezebel belonged owned many palaces, full 
of exquisitely carved wood, and seats of mother- 
of-pearl, and ivory couches inlaid with precious 
stones. 

“ When the new Queen Athaliah went to Jeru¬ 
salem as a bride she lived in a beautiful house 
which had been built by Solomon for an Egyp¬ 
tian Princess w T ho was one of his wives. And, 
strangely enough, this house was made of cedar- 
trees which the servants of Athaliah’s own peo¬ 
ple, the people of Sidon, had cut down for Solo¬ 
mon in the high sunny woods of Mount Lebanon, 
far away in the north. 

“ So Athaliah lived in her cedar-palace, and 
looked out of the windows at the peacocks and 
fountains in the queen’s garden. There were 
hundreds of horses to draw her chariots, and big 
camels who munched straw and barley in the 
stables. Her son Ahaziah grew up there, and 

191 

13 — Uncle Jim' a Stories from Old Testament. 


THE QUEEN OF JUDAH 


he ruled over Judah after his father, Atha- 
liah’s husband, was dead; and this queen, whose 
people, as you know, had worshiped the sun 
and the moon, tried to teach the young King 
Ahaziah to do the same. But a great captain of 
the army, called Jehu, killed Ahaziah, and then 
the queen-mother began to rule at Jerusalem 
herself. 

“ Ahaziah had been her only son, and she was 
afraid that the people would crown one of the 
other young princes as their King, and that then 
she herself would be left without any power at 
all. So she had all the royal children secretly 
put to death, set herself upon the throne of 
David, placed his crown upon her head, and took 
his sceptre in her hand.” 

“ Oh, what a wicked queen!” cried Betty. 
“ How could she do such a terrible thing? ” 

“ Many queens since then have been almost 
if not fully as cruel,” Uncle Jim informed her. 
“ You will learn all about them in your history at 
school.” 

“ I don’t want to know,” averred Betty. “ To 
hear such things makes me want to cry, and I 
don’t want to.” 

There was a laugh at Betty’s expense, then 
Uncle Jim resumed his story. 


192 


THE QUEEN OF JUDAH 

“ There was, at the Temple, a High-Priest 
called Jehoiada, and his wife was of the family 
of the Kings. She took one tiny royal baby, only 
a year old, and hid him, with his nurse, in a 
room in one of the priests’ houses that clustered 
round the holy building, and there the little baby 
stayed, concealed from everybody, for six years. 

“ He must have been rather like another tiny 
Samuel, as he trotted about the cedar-roofed 
rooms after the kind High-Priest who brought 
him up. Jehoiada watched him, and loved him, 
and taught him very carefully indeed. For the 
High-Priest meant this little child to be crowned 
King of Judah, as was his lawful right. 

“ The little boy’s name was Joash, or Jehoash, 
and, on. his seventh birthday, the great day came. 
The High-Priest brought him from his nursery, 
and took him along dim and wonderful corridors, 
lit with jewelled lamps. Then the little child 
found himself among carved pillars, and high 
golden screens, and purple hangings, with a sweet 
smell of spices lingering in the air. And there 
stood a group of grave men, dressed in armor, 
who gazed down upon him earnestly, as the High- 
Priest, holding Joash by the hand, told them that 
here was the only living son of Jerusalem’s law¬ 
ful Kings. 


193 


THE QUEEN OF JUDAH 


“ They all took a vow of loyalty to the won¬ 
dering child, and went away, and Joash trotted 
back to his nurse, and you may be sure he told 
her all about it.” 

“ What a sweet and wonderful child,” mur¬ 
mured Betty. “ And what splendid people 
Jehoiada and his wife must have been.” 

“ Little Joash does seem to be quite a prom¬ 
ising youngster,” observed Dick so wisely 
that Uncle Jim and Mrs. Burroughs laughed 
heartily. “ And the High-Priests acted like regu¬ 
lar men,” he added without heeding the laugh. 

“ Yes, they did, Dick,” agreed Uncle Jim. 
“ But hear the rest of the story, Son: 

“ The following Sabbath morning came a great, 
though quiet, movement of troops up to the 
King’s house, and the Queen’s house, and the 
House of God. The people who were making 
ready to go to worship saw only what was quite 
usual — the door-keepers of the Temple mass¬ 
ing together to exchange their watch. But these 
men were all soldiers of the captains who had 
taken the oath of loyalty, and they were gather¬ 
ing in companies to defend the tiny King. 

“ Inside the Temple a wonderful thing was 
happening. 

Once more the kind, strong High-Priest went 

194 


THE QUEEN OF JUDAH 


to where little Joash waited in the chamber with 
his nurse. The child was fresh and sweet and 
fair in fine linen garments, with a little royal robe 
upon his shoulders; and again Jehoiada led him 
through the lamp-lit corridors into the Temple, 
where a number of people had gathered together 
for worship, not knowing what was going to hap¬ 
pen on this wonderful Sabbath. 

“ Don't you see that scene, children? It was 
a beautiful scene, and a big scene for a very little 
fellow. And you can imagine the curiosity of the 
people gathered there, but for what purpose they 
did not know. Their curiosity was reflected in 
their faces, and in the way they so eagerly leaned 
forward and stared wonderingly at the sweet fit tie 
child. No doubt he, too, was wondering what it 
was all about." 

“ Don’t you think he knew, Father? ’’ asked 
Dick. 

“How could he comprehend it? In the first 
place he was too young to fully understand. 
Again, he must have been badly frightened facing 
that great throng. I presume, though the Bible 
does not tell us so, that he realized that some¬ 
thing very great was about to take place, and that 
it concerned him. But, as I have said, he was too 
young to understand." 


i95 


THE QUEEN OF JUDAH 


“Still, he was not too young to be a king,” 
murmured Dick. 

“ Little Joash, no doubt, was interested in all 
the wonderful and beautiful things to be seen in 
that holy place,” continued the story teller. 
“ Among them were the heads and horns of twelve 
oxen made of shining brass and facing north, 
south, east and west. They held on their great 
glittering shoulders a gigantic bowl in which were 
carved the waves of a golden sea. This mighty 
bowl was shaped like a cup, and lilies were carved 
upon the rim. From end to end of the Temple 
stood the faithful captains, shoulder to shoulder, 
in a silent, watchful row. Every captain had a 
shield and a spear, which had once belonged to 
King David, upon his breast and in his right hand; 
and right down this long row of rigid warriors the 
High-Priest led the little startled child.” 

“ The poor little dear. What a shame to 
frighten him so,” exclaimed Betty warmly. 

“ Rather hard on the little fellow,” nodded 
Dick. “ Why could they not have left him with 
his nurse? ” 

“ Because the occasion was too great. That 
would not have been possible,” answered Uncle 
Jim. 

“ On the other side of the Temple court was a 

196 


THE QUEEN OF JUDAH 


hushed and waiting crowd of people, surprised into 
deep silence by what they saw. 

“ Jehoiada took King David’s crown and set it 
upon little Joash’s head, and, for a moment, laid 
the big parchment rolls, which held the list of the 
people, in his chubby arms. Then the High- 
Priest poured the sacred, sweet-smelling oil upon 
the boy’s soft hair and turned him to face the? 
people; and the men who were standing ready 
with their trumpets blew a great blast, the people 
clapped their hands, and right up to the roof of the 
Temple rang the mighty shout: 

“ ‘ God save the King! ’ ” 

“ And God heard that shout, too. How glad 
he must have been,” exclaimed Betty excitedly. 

“ Where was Queen Athaliah all this time? ” 
inquired Dick. 

“ Queen Athaliah, from her garden of peacocks, 
heard the shouts and the trumpetings inside the 
Temple, and called up her body-guard and her 
maids-in-waiting, and went to the House of the 
Lord. 

“ The people made way for the Queen’s pro¬ 
cession, which passed through them to where the 
armed captains watched in their silent ranks in 
front of the shining oxen of brass. Queen Atha¬ 
liah looked, and behold, in the royal place by the 

197 


THE QUEEN OF JUDAH 


King’s pillar stood a small, grave, wondering 
child, crowned with a crown of gold. Even as 
she caught sight of him, the trumpets sounded 
once more, and again the people shouted: 

“ ‘ God save the King! ’ 

“ Queen Athaliah turned round angrily to the 
crowd behind. ‘ Treason! 9 she cried in a shrill, 
high voice. 'Treason!’ She thought that her 
subjects might yet rally to her; but no one stirred. 
She signalled fiercely to her body-guard, but they 
looked at the captains by the altar, with the 
swords and spears of David, and they drooped 
their heads. Then the High-Priest raised his 
.hand commandingly. 

“ ‘ Take her! ’ he said to the captains. 1 Take 
her away from this holy place, and let her be put 
to death! ’ 

“ So the captains closed round Athaliah and 
marched out of the Temple, with the wicked 
Queen in their midst. They led her dowrn the 
long hill up which the horses were driven to the 
King’s stables, and out of the shadows of the 
Temple into the sunshine on the slope below. 
And there they put her to death, for had she not 
killed the royal princes six years before? ” 

“ What else could a cruel queen like Athaliah 
expect? ” ventured Dick. 

198 


THE QUEEN OF JUDAH 


“ Yes. She had committed a great crime, and, 
like all who sin, her punishment followed,” said 
Uncle Jim. 

“ Won’t you tell us more about Joash, Uncle 
Jim? ” begged Betty. “ Did he grow up, and was 
he good and noble, and everything? ” 

“ Yes, Blue Eyes. He proved to be all that 
you could wish him to be. Joash, the little King, 
the sweet child that Jehoiada had saved from 
death, and reared, and finally led to the throne, 
grew up wise and good under the tender teaching 
of the High-Priest of God. The boy grew to be a 
great and good King, of whom I may tell you a 
story at another time. I will tell you just an¬ 
other story to-day, but that will be after my re¬ 
turn, for I am going out with Dick for a walk in 
the rain.” 

“ I’ll go, too,” cried Betty, her eyes aglow. 

Mrs. Burroughs said “no,” and though Betty 
pouted for a moment, the sunshine of her happy 
nature soon drove away the clouds. 

“ What is the story to be, Uncle Jim? ” asked 
Betty, brushing a hand across her eyes and smiling 
up at him. 

“ I think we will call it, ‘ The Little Captive 
Maid, the Story of a Mighty Captain’s Servant,’ ” 
promised Uncle Jim Burroughs. 

199 


THE LITTLE CAPTIVE MAID 

THE STORY OF A MIGHTY CAPTAIN’S SERVANT 

D ICK and his father did not return to the 
house until late in the afternoon. Wear¬ 
ing rubber boots and heavy raincoats, they had 
plodded through mud and rain for hours, finally 
returning home with faces flushed and eyes 
aglow. It had been a glorious day for father and 
son. 

“ It was great, Betty,” cried Dick as they 
stamped into the kitchen and threw off their wet 
coats and boots. Mrs. Burroughs did not per¬ 
mit wet boots in her parlor. 

“Yes. You look it,” retorted Betty a little 
scornfully, in reply to her cousin’s remark. “ If 
you get sick, Dickie Burroughs, don’t you dare ask 
me to be your nurse.” 

“ I won’t,” promised Dick in a tone of voice 
that made Betty flush. She was about to make 
a sharp retort, but thinking better of it, turned 
and walked into the parlor and sat down. She 
waited there for nearly an hour for Uncle Jim 


200 



THE LITTLE CAPTIVE MAID 


and Dick, and when they finally did come in 
Betty pretended to be asleep. 

Dick tickled her ear with a feather that he had 
picked up in the kitchen where Mrs. Burroughs 
w T as preparing their dinner and supper in one. 

Betty sprang up, uttering a merry peal of 
laughter, Cousin Dick and beloved Uncle Jim 
joining in the merriment. 

“ For your good nature, you shall have a bed¬ 
time story to-night — if you wish it,” promised 
Uncle Jim, accompanying the words with one of 
those rare smiles that always brought sunshine 
into the hearts of everyone about him. 

“ Wish it? You know I do, you dear old uncle. 
Do you know what I was thinking while you and 
Dick were out to-day? ” 

“ Wishing you were with us,” suggested Dick. 

“ Well, yes. But that wasn’t all. I was think¬ 
ing that if I were a queen, rich like Athaliah, and 
Uncle Jim were poor like our minister, I would 
hire Uncle and pay him heaps and heaps of 
money to work for me. I’d give him a golden 
chariot and all the white horses he — ” 

“ Work for you? Doing what?” demanded 
Cousin Dick. 

“ Just telling me wonderful stories, that’s all,” 
answered Betty. 


THE LITTLE CAPTIVE MAID 


“Mercy me! ” cried Uncle Jim. “Blue Eyes, 
I fear that my stories would give out; then, alas, 
the beautiful queen would have me beheaded,” 
laughed Uncle Jim. “ As it is I shall have to 
think up a fresh supply or else go back home.” 

“ You haven’t told them all yet, Uncle. I just 
know you haven’t,” insisted Betty. 

Uncle Jim admitted that he had a few more 
stories stowed away in the back of his head, and 
promised that, after they had had their dinner, 
he would tell them the story of the Captive Maid. 

It was some time after they had finished their 
supper that Uncle Jim announced his readiness to 
begin. 

The late twilight covered the fields and the 
trees, and a full moon was shining brightly after 
the rain, turning the raindrops on the leaves into 
millions of sparkling diamonds, so Uncle Jim and 
the children went out to the porch, where they 
were soon joined by Mrs. Burroughs. 

“ This would be a great night for Queen Atha- 
liah,” observed Dick, sitting down on the top 
step of the porch and gazing up into the sky. 

“ How is that, Son? ” asked his father. 

“ Because the Queen was a moon-worshiper.” 

Uncle Jim coughed. 

“We will now begin our story,” he said. “ It 


202 


THE LITTLE CAPTIVE MAID 


is a fine little story, too. You children know I 
have to tell you that to get your interest stirred 
up before I begin.” 

“ All Bible stories are fine stories,” interposed 
Mrs. Burroughs. 

“ That’s so, Auntie, but the telling isn’t always 
so fine,” teased Dick, stealing a quick glance at 
his father, who ignoring Dick’s remark began the 
story: 

“ The Bible tells how foreign armies came into 
the Kingdom of Israel,” said Uncle Jim; “ among 
them the armies of the King of Syria, whose 
country was not far from the mountains of Leb¬ 
anon, where the spreading cedar-trees grew. He 
was always sending bands of soldiers into Samaria, 
who stole the people’s sheep and oxen, and some¬ 
times the young boys and girls for slaves. Among 
the children who were taken away was a little 
maid. 

“ This little maid had fallen into the hands of a 
captain called Naaman, who was strong and val¬ 
iant, and a great favorite with his royal master, 
the Syrian King. Naaman gave the child to his 
wife, a rich and kind lady, to be her small servant, 
and to wait upon her in her beautiful house at 
Damascus. 

“ The little girl was quite happy, and soon 

203 


THE LITTLE CAPTIVE MAID 


learned to love her new master and mistress; for, 
although they had taken her far from her own 
people, they treated her very well. And often, 
as she helped her mistress to dress, or brought her 
fruit and wine to eat and drink, she would prattle 
about the land of Samaria, where the Holy Tent 
had once stood on Shiloh, and where the ivory 
palace built by Ahab still gleamed among the 
oaks of the high hills. 

“ Now, although Naaman was such a strong 
man, and a brave captain of soldiers, he had a 
very terrible disease called leprosy.” 

“ What is leprosy? ” Betty wanted to know. 

“ A disease that, in time, leads to death. It 
made Naaman’s skin all dry and white, and he 
knew that soon he would waste away, and that 
he would be shunned by everyone because of the 
terrible disease,” answered Uncle Jim. 

“ The little Samaritan maid’s heart was full of 
sympathy for her master’s misfortune. She used 
to look at him sorrowfully whenever he came her 
way, for she knew that his wife felt dreadfully un¬ 
happy about this sad disease. And one day, when 
she was with her mistress, the child said how 
much she wished that Naaman were in Samaria, 
for there was a great prophet there who would 
cure him of his sickness. 


204 


THE LITTLE CAPTIVE MAID 


“ The rich Syrian lady began quickly to ask the 
child questions, which she answered as well as she 
could. So Naaman got to hear that there was a 
prophet in Israel who could heal every kind of 
disease. Then the King of Syria himself was told 
of this wonderful man. But he took it for 
granted that the worker of miracles could be no 
other than a King. 

“So he wrote a letter to the King of Israel 
asking him to make Naaman healthy and strong 
again. He gave this letter to the Syrian captain, 
and told him to take it to Samaria himself. 

“ Naaman said good-bye to his wife, and set out 
in a beautiful chariot drawn by five strong horses, 
taking a lot of silver and gold, and fine silk 
clothing, as presents to the monarch who had it 
in his power to make sick people well again. 

“ The little maid watched him go. But she her¬ 
self knew nothing of the King in his palace, with 
his courtiers and musicians about him. She only 
knew of the Holy Man who wandered in his 
sandals over the mountains, or slept in a little 
cave on the side of a hill.” 

“ Who was the great prophet that the maid told 
the captain’s wife about? ” asked Betty. 

“ Elisha, my dear. You should have known 
that,” rebuked Uncle Jim. 

205 


THE LITTLE CAPTIVE MAID 


“ I didn’t know, either, Father,” spoke up Dick ? 
whereupon Betty smiled and nodded her head at 
Cousin Dick. 

“ Naaman, all grand in his chariot, went driving 
up to the palace gates when he had reached his 
journey’s end, and he gave the letter, rather 
haughtily, to the King of Israel. The King, when 
he had read it, was in despair. ‘ For,’ he said, 
‘ who am I to cure a man of leprosy? Only God 
can do such things! The King of Syria is seeking 
a quarrel with me, that, once more, he may make 
war upon my country and myself.’ 

“ Who could tell what would have happened, 
after this, if Elisha had not heard that a great 
captain had come, in a chariot with horses, all the 
way from Syria, to be cured of leprosy? Happily 
the prophet was told of the proud and determined 
visitor; and he sent a quiet message, bidding 
Naaman leave the palace and come into the open 
mountains. So by and by the big Syrian chariot 
thundered up to the door of the small dwelling- 
place where, at the moment, the prophet lived. 

“ How glad the little maid would have been if 
she could have seen the chariot there! for, often 
and often, she must have thought of her kind 
foreign master looking for the holy man of God 
among the vineyards of her own home. 

206 


THE LITTLE CAPTIVE MAID 


“ Outside the house Naaman waited. He ex¬ 
pected Elisha would come out to him, stretch 
forth a powerful wand like a magician’s, make 
loud cries to God, and so perform a wonderful and 
miraculous cure for everybody to see. But the 
prophet did not even stir from the chamber where 
he sat. He just sent out a message. 

“ ‘ Go and wash seven times in the river Jordan, 
and thy flesh shall come back to thee, and thou 
shalt be well! 9 

“ Then Naaman was very angry and went right 
away from the little home in the hills. If he had 
been told to wash in one of the great rivers of 
his own country he would not have been so 
offended. But what was the river Jordan—• 
what were all the waters of Israel to a captain of 
the mighty Syrian King? Naaman was inclined 
to go straight home again, but his servants per¬ 
suaded him against this hurried return. 

“ ‘ If the prophet had told our master to do a 
great thing, he would have done it! ’ they said. 
‘ Why not, then, do a thing as small and easy as 
this?' 

“ So Naaman was persuaded out of his anger, 
and he went down to the Jordan instead of hurry¬ 
ing home. His servants helped him to take off 
his fine clothes, and stood on the bank, while, 

207 

— Uncle Jim's Stories from Old Testament . 


THE LITTLE CAPTIVE MAID 


seven times, he dipped beneath the warm and 
limpid waters of the river of Israel; and when he 
came up from the stream, treading the flowers of 
the bank under foot, his flesh was as fair and soft 
and beautiful as the flesh of the little maid her¬ 
self, through whose innocent prattle and loving 
memory of her own good Israelite prophet the 
mighty captain of Syrian soldiers had been made 
whole. 

“ And that is the end of the little story/’ said 
Uncle Jim in conclusion. 

“ A beautiful story, too, it is, Uncle Jim,” was 
Betty’s reply. “What became of the dear little 
maid? ” 

Uncle Jim confessed that he did not know, and 
also that he did not even know her name, as the 
Bible did not give it. 

“ Then Naaman really was cured by bathing in 
the Jordan, Father? ” questioned Dick. 

“ That was the method employed by Elisha 
to work the cure. It is probable that the 
prophet did it that way to humble the mighty 
captain.” 

“ And I presume the captain was so thankful 
at being made whole, that he believed in Elisha’s 
God after that? ” suggested Dick. 

“ I think not,” answered Uncle Jim. “ Now 

208 


THE LITTLE CAPTIVE MAID 


please run along to bed, children. If there is 
time I will tell you a story to-morrow.” 

“ Oh, please tell it to us now! Please do, 
Uncle Jim,” begged Betty. “ I know I shall 
never be able to wait until to-morrow.” 

Uncle Jim shook his head, and smiled indul¬ 
gently. 

“ You can, at least, tell us what the story is 
about, Father,” suggested Dick. 

“ No! I will tell you this much, however, — it 
is about a King who got into great trouble be¬ 
cause he loved himself too well, and that is every 
word I am going to say about it to-night,” de¬ 
clared Uncle Jim firmly. “ Good-night, Blue 
Eyes! Good-night, Son.” 


209 




& KING WHO WORSHIPED 
HIMSELF 

THE STORY OF BABYLON 

i £ rTlHE story! The story! ” cried Betty, as 
JL she ran out to the orchard where she 
espied Dick and his father strolling back and 
forth, enjoying the sweet morning air. Betty was 
still rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. 

“Why, Blue Eyes, we haven’t had breakfast 
yet,” protested Uncle Jim. 

“ I know. But my appetite for the story is 
greater than my appetite for breakfast. I want 
to hear about the man who was in love with him¬ 
self. I never heard of such a thing in all my 
life. Did you, Dick? ” 

Dick nodded and smiled ever so little. He had 
heard many wonderful stories of the Bible people, 
told by his father in many a ramble over field 
and through forest, and in the quiet of their 
own happy little home. 

“ If it really is so serious as that, Betty, per¬ 
haps I might tell you the story. What about 
breakfast, though? Your mother will feel that 


210 


A KING WHO WORSHIPED HIMSELF 


we are not quite fair to her if we keep her wait- 
ing” 

“ It is all right, Uncle Jim. Mother says it 
is, that she will wait breakfast until we come in,” 
urged Betty, now thoroughly awake, her face 
flushed and eyes sparkling. 

“ Very well,” agreed Uncle Jim, surrendering 
to Betty’s insistent demand. 

Betty promptly sat down with her back 
against a tree and composed herself to be enter¬ 
tained. Dick and his father also sat down. 

“ I think we will call the story ‘ The King Who 
Worshiped Himself,’ ” began Uncle Jim. “ I 
don’t believe Dick has heard this particular story, 
but I know he will be interested in it. 

“ This King, children, reigned about six hun¬ 
dred years before Christ came to earth, a long, 
long time ago, and in many ways he was a most 
remarkable man.” 

“ Do I know him? What was his name, 
Uncle? ” interrupted Betty. 

“ I hardly think you know him, Blue Eyes, 
though you undoubtedly have read of him in the 
Bible. His name was Nebuchadnezzar.” 

Betty nodded, but did not speak. Instead she 
fixed her blue eyes on Uncle Jim’s face, and they 
were full of eagerness. 


2 11 


A KING WHO WORSHIPED HIMSELF 


“ It is not an easy name to speak, and a some¬ 
what difficult one to spell. I remember what a 
time I had in learning to spell it when I was a 
youth,” said Uncle Jim with a chuckle. 

“We must get on with our story, then hasten 
in to breakfast. There is no doubt that Nebu¬ 
chadnezzar was a remarkable man, a clever man, 
for he accomplished many wonderful things. 
This King, among other things, built a city that 
the world has been talking about ever since. 
Does either of you children know the name of 
it? ” questioned the story-teller. 

Betty shook her blond head vigorously. Dick 
pondered, but, like his companion, was unable to 
name the city. 

“ It’s name was Babylon,” Uncle Jim informed 
them. 

“ Of course ! How stupid of me,” said Dick, 
out of patience with himself. 

“ Minds are made to use, you know, Son,” 
reproved his father kindly. “ This King was a 
strong man, and undoubtedly was a hard mas¬ 
ter, with a great mastery of men, for he made 
everybody do exactly what he wished them to 
do, and whether or not they liked to do his bid¬ 
ding.” 

“ I don’t believe I like that King,” murmured 
Betty. 


212 


A KING WHO WORSHIPED HIMSELF 


“ Nebuchadnezzar, besides being great in build¬ 
ing a city, was a great warrior. He not only 
ruled over Babylonia, but in his wars he fought 
and conquered Egypt. He took Jerusalem and 
carried away many thousands of Jewish people 
into his home country.” 

“ I call that a cruel thing to do. I don’t think 
a man who could do a thing like that is so very 
great after all,” protested Betty. 

“ It was wrong, of course,” agreed Uncle Jim. 
“ In spite of this we must measure the man by 
what he accomplished, for he succeeded in a 
wonderful way in almost everything that he 
undertook. All these successes, however, seem 
to have turned Nebuchadnezzar’s head. At least 
he grew very proud and self-confident, and lost 
no opportunity to boast about what he had done 
and what he proposed to do.” 

“ He bragged about it,” murmured Betty, 
nodding her blond head. 

This made Uncle Jim smile. He then re¬ 
sumed his story. 

“ Through all these successes, the King 
thought so much about himself and his achieve¬ 
ments that he nearly forgot God, which was not 
good for him, and a man so great as he should 
have known that, to forget or even to neglect 

213 


A KING WHO WORSHIPED HIMSELF 


God, would sooner or later bring its punish¬ 
ment. 

“ In the city of Babylon this King really had 
something worth boasting about — something 
more noble than war — and the city was the 
pride of his life. He had put all his wealth and 
his brilliant mind into the making of the city. 
He had a burning ambition to make it the most 
wonderful city in the world, and I think he suc¬ 
ceeded. When it was finished he invited all the 
kings near and far to come and see it. Children, 
can you not imagine the pride with which he 
showed them his city? Taking his visitors to 
the top of one of the high towers, where a view 
of the entire city could be had, Nebuchadnezzar 
would proudly demand: ‘ Is not this the great 

Babylon which I have builded? ’ ” 

“Mother says that only persons with little 
brains are conceited,” interjected Betty. 

“Won’t you tell us what this city looked 
like? ” requested Dick. 

Uncle Jim replied that he was wondering why 
the children did not ask this question. 

“ It was a beautiful city,” he said. “ It was 
beautiful even as we look upon cities now and 
call them beautiful, but they are not as Babylon 
was. 


214 


A KING WHO WORSHIPED HIMSELF 


“ This great city was built along both sides 
of the river Euphrates, and was walled in by 
walls on either side, sixty miles long. Can you 
imagine a city sixty miles long? ” 

The two children looked their amazement. 

“ There were a hundred gates in the walls, 
each gate made of solid brass, which was kept 
brightly polished and which blazed like fires 
under the tropical sunlight. 

“ Streets, straight and broad, divided the city 
into six hundred and seventy-six squares, con¬ 
taining many buildings and numerous parks and 
pleasure grounds. You will agree with me that 
Nebuchadnezzar was a fine engineer when I 
tell you that the two sides of the river were 
joined with a beautiful bridge and a tunnel 
under it.” 

“ Wonderful! ” breathed the two rapt listeners. 

Dick wished to know about the King’s palace, 
if he had such a thing in his great city. 

“ He did, Son, but it is practically impossible 
to describe it so that we may get a clear picture 
of the building. We do know that it covered 
more than six miles of ground and was decorated 

with statues of men and animals on the outside. 

* 

Within, the palace was furnished with all the 
luxurious fittings of that time, and filled with 

215 


A KING WHO WORSHIPED HIMSELF 


vessels of gold and silver that had been brought 
from neighboring countries. 

“ One of the most notable features of Nebu¬ 
chadnezzar's palace was its hanging gardens. 
They were, and still are in history, the wonder of 
the world. 

“ Here is a peculiar thing in connection with 
Babylon, and one that shows the power of the 
man to overcome obstacles. The city was built 
on a flat plain, from which level country ex¬ 
tended away for many miles. Nebuchadnezzar 
did not wholly like the outlook so he had an 
enormous mountain made, with terraces rising 
one above the other. He had trees brought from 
great distances and planted on this mountain, 
and the King took his walks on the terraces under 
the shade of the trees, and thought about what 
a great man he was. 

“ Nothing seemed impossible to this man,” 
resumed Uncle Jim after a moment’s thought. 
“ At least he seemed to believe that nothing was 
impossible. Remember, though, that thousands 
of slaves were at hand to do his bidding, slaves 
who toiled under stern masters without pay and 
probably with more or less cruel treatment. 

“ In all this success, as I have already told you, 
children, the King forgot that God gave him life, 

216 


A KING WHO WORSHIPED HIMSELF 


gave him his remarkable mind, his genius, and 
permitted him to succeed. Nebuchadnezzar for¬ 
got it all, and worshiped only himself. After a 
time he made himself believe that he himself was 
a god and that everybody should bow down and 
worship him. What he did next will interest 
you.” 

“ Something foolish, I presume,” nodded Betty. 

“ Yes. That perhaps describes it as well as any¬ 
thing that I can say,” replied Uncle Jim smilingly. 
“ The King had a huge statue of himself made. 
This he placed on a great pedestal on a broad flat 
plain, and on a certain day everybody was obliged 
to go to this plain and stand about the big statue. 
Many musicians were stationed on a high plat¬ 
form, and the King commanded that, when the 
trumpets began to blow, the vast throng must bow 
their heads and worship the image. This was to 
be a sign that they worshiped him.” 

“ Oh! That was terrible,” cried Betty. 

“ Yes,” agreed Uncle Jim. “ And only three of 
all that multitude refused to obey the King’s com¬ 
mand. This disturbed the King very much, but 
taking it all in all he was quite well satisfied with 
the worship of the multitude, and with himself. 

“ A hard lesson was coming to Nebuchadnezzar, 
as you children can well imagine, for God was 

217 


A KING WHO WORSHIPED HIMSELF 


angry, and his punishment was severe, for the 
King had sought to make himself a god. Do you 
know what that punishment was? ” 

Dick and Betty shook their heads. 

“ Because he did not give God the glory, God’s 
decree was: 

“ ‘ They shall drive thee from men, and thy 
dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and 
they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and 
they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven.’ 

“ Nebuchadnezzar was smitten with a terrible 
form of madness. He was made to believe that he 
was a bullock. He walked on all fours as if he 
were a four-legged animal, and ate grass like an 
ox. Like the animal that he thought he was, the 
King never looked up while his punishment lasted. 
That, children, was the punishment that came to 
the man who tried to be a god, and gave not God 
the glory for the blessings that were his,” finished 
Uncle Jim. 

Dick averred that it served the wicked king 
right. Betty admitted that the punishment was 
just, but said it was terrible to think of. 

“ What next, Uncle? ” Betty then demanded. 

“ Breakfast! ” replied Uncle Jim with emphasis. 
“ There is your mother at the door beckoning to 
us. The next story will be called, ‘ The Prophet 
in the Well.’ Hurry along, children.” 

218 


THE PROPHET IN THE WELL 

THE STORY OF A BRAVE MAN 


B ETTY could hardly wait until breakfast was 
over for the next story, and she was keenly 
disappointed when Uncle Jim told her there would 
be no more stories until later in the day. You 
see, Betty, though a sweet and lovable girl, was 
an impatient one. 

“ Why not, Uncle Jim? ” she pouted. 

Uncle Jim said that he and Dick must walk 
over to the post office, then there would be letters 
to read and answer and perhaps talk over, and 
he suggested that, while they were absent, Betty 
assist her mother with the morning work. 

Betty nodded and sighed. Just the same she 
began work at once, first helping with the dishes, 
then making up her bed and sweeping and dust¬ 
ing her room. After a little she was heard singing 
at her work, and Mrs. Burroughs smiled happily 
at the sound. 

It seemed but a short time ere Dick called to 
her from the yard, and asked her to come down, 

219 


THE PROPHET IN THE WELL 


but Betty said she had not yet finished, which was 
better still. There was no further urging for a 
story from the little girl that morning, and even 
after dinner she did not ask for a story. 

“ I think we have a very good little girl to-day,” 
chuckled Uncle Jim, nodding to Mrs. Burroughs. 

“ Very/’ agreed Betty’s mother. 

“ It looks cool and comfortable on the back 
porch this afternoon, and I feel as if I should like 
to tell you two children a little story, the one I 
promised you this morning,” said Uncle Jim. 

“ Goodie ! ” cried Betty so eagerly that every¬ 
one laughed. 

“ This,” said Uncle Jim, after they were all 
seated on the porch, “ is the story of a great and 
good man who was determined to do right, though 
to do so seemed certain death. It is the story of 
Jeremiah. 

“ Jeremiah was a prophet. He was a shy man, 
and for that reason it must have been hard for 
him to do right in the face of what he had to 
meet. He did it just the same, even though it 
got him into great trouble. 

“ The prophet lived in Judah, which lay be¬ 
tween two bigger countries, one of which wished 
to march its army through Judah and attack 
Egypt. This warlike country was Babylon, of 


220 


THE PROPHET IN THE WELL 


which you have already heard, though there was 
now a new king on the throne. 

“The King of Judah was a weak king, and 
neither he nor his officers could decide what they 
ought to do about letting the Babylonians go 
through their country. They did not think of 
asking God for his advice. In spite of this, God 
tried to help them by sending Jeremiah to advise 
them. This the men of Judah resented. Some 
favored fetching the army from Egypt to fight the 
Babylonians who were then attacking the city of 
Jerusalem. 

“ ‘ This is bad advice/ declared Jeremiah. 
‘ That is trusting man, not God. God says sub¬ 
mit yourselves to the Babylonians, and your city 
will be saved, and he will overrule your doing this 
for your good/ 

“ The officers of the King’s army were very 
angry, and accused Jeremiah of being a traitor to 
his country. They said he was trying to give it 
up to its enemies. The people soon became 
aroused against Jeremiah, and the excitement be¬ 
came so great that he decided it were best for 
him to go away for a time. 

“ As he was leaving the city, guards at the city 
gate seized him, declaring that he was about to 
go to their enemies and tell them how to conquer 


221 


THE PROPHET IN THE WELL 


the city. Jeremiah protested that he was not a 
traitor, but they would not listen, and dragging 
him away threw the prophet into a dungeon, and 
neglected him until he was nearly starved to 
death.” 

“ How cruel of them! ” cried Betty. “ Why did 
not God save him? ” 

“ God did, as you will see, my dear. Jeremiah 
managed to get a message to the King who di¬ 
rected that the prophet be fed.” 

“ And the King saved him, didn’t he? ” inter¬ 
rupted Dick. 

“ No. The King, as I have told you, was a 
weak king, and the officers determined to kill the 
prophet, and talked against him to the King. 
Having won the King over to their side, they pro¬ 
ceeded to the prison, took Jeremiah out and threw 
him into a deep well. They reasoned that no 
one could get at him there, and that he would 
soon starve to death.” 

“ Did the poor man drown? ” asked Betty 
anxiously. 

“ No, child. There was no water in the well, 
but at the bottom there was deep mud, and over¬ 
powering odors that made it a terrible place for 
a human being. Jeremiah sank into the mud to 
his armpits, but by stretching out his arms and 


222 


THE PROPHET IN THE WELL 


holding them in that position he kept himself 
from sinking wholly into the mire. You chil¬ 
dren may wonder if God had deserted his prophet, 
but you must know that God never deserts those 
who are faithful to him and to his commands. 

“ It came about in this way. Some of the 
women in the palace heard of the cruel thing 
that had been done to Jeremiah. They sent a 
black servant to find him. This servant’s name 
was Ebed-Melech. Ebed, after considerable 
searching, discovered where the prophet had 
been put, and his heart was so touched with 
pity that he acted at once to save the unhappy 
prophet in the well. 

“ Ebed went to the King, who did not know 
what the officers had done, and the King, when 
told of the peril of God’s prophet, became 
alarmed. He ordered Ebed to go get Jeremiah 
out of the pit and take sufficient men with him 
to accomplish the big task. 

“ The black servant first lowered food to the 
nearly starved man. He also had with him clean 
clothes for the prophet. Getting the prisoner 
out was not an easy task, and Ebed had to do 
considerable thinking to find a way to accomplish 
it, for Jeremiah was stuck hard and fast in the 
mud.” 


223 

15 — Uncle Jim's Stories from Old Testament. 


THE PROPHET IN THE WELL 


Dick interrupted to ask why Ebed did not get 
a ladder. Uncle Jim replied that he did not 
know whether or not they had any such thing in 
those days. 

“ Two ropes with loops were finally let down 
and Jeremiah was directed to put his arms 
through them, but the prophet was so fast in the 
mud that the pull of the men on the ropes was 
more than he could endure. 

“ Ebed, even though he was a black man, had 
a good head, for he immediately hurried away, 
soon returning with a bundle of soft rags and old 
clothes. These he let down to the prophet with 
instructions to put them under his arm-pits and 
around his arms, so that the ropes might not 
hurt him. Then when this had been done, the 
men began to pull on the ropes. They felt Jere¬ 
miah coming ever so little at first and were 
greatly encouraged. 

“ Think how Jeremiah must have suffered. 
But he never uttered a cry, nor a word of com¬ 
plaint. Inch by inch the men drew him up until 
at last they had him free from the mud in which 
he was slowly dying. 

“ It was but a few moments’ work after that 
to get him out of the well. The kind servant 
then bathed Jeremiah and put clean clothing on 


224 


THE PROPHET IN THE WELL 


him, gave him more food, and sent him on his 
way to continue the work that God had laid out 
for him.” 

“ How wonderful! ” breathed Betty. 

Dick asked if the King’s officers bothered the 
prophet after that. 

“ Not so far as I am aware. They probably 
realized that Jeremiah was protected by a higher 
power and that it were well to let him alone in 
the future,” replied Uncle Jim. 

“ What a brave man he must have been in 
spite of his being so timid, as you say he was,” 
said Dick thoughtfully. 

“ He was God’s servant and doing God’s work, 
my son,” answered Uncle Jim. “ Do that always 
and you never will know fear, for God, while he 
may permit you to suffer a time for reasons that 
are beyond you, will always be at your side to 
strengthen you for your ordeal and to save you 
at the end.” Uncle Jim’s voice was solemn as 
he spoke the words, and both Betty and Dick 
were very thoughtful. 

“ Now run along, children. Have a good play 
and talk for the rest of the day. If there is time 
I will tell you a different story to-morrow — a 
story that will thrill you and stir you. This 
story is one that I consider one of the most 

225 

■* 


THE PROPHET IN THE WELL 


fascinating of any of the great Bible stories. I 
think we will call the story ‘ A Prince of Jerusa¬ 
lem/ and I will warrant that neither of you can 
guess what the story is about,” finished Uncle 
Jim smilingly. 


223 


A PRINCE OF JERUSALEM 


THE STORY OF DANIEL AND THE LIONS 

W HEN Uncle Jim returned from a call at the 
post office next morning there followed a 
long quiet talk with Mrs. Burroughs. 

“ I think it will be wise not to tell the children 
until later in the day, perhaps not until morning,” 
suggested Mrs. Burroughs. “ If you do tell them 
it will spoil their day, in spite of the good news 
that we have for them. You surely did bring me 
good news in the mail this morning, James. As 
for yourself, you can’t even imagine how unhappy 
our little Betty will be.” 

“Yes. I know. But she will forget all about 
it when you tell her the good news, Margaret,” 
declared Uncle Jim, his eyes twinkling as he ob¬ 
served the happy smile on Mrs. Burroughs’ face. 

“ You will tell them this evening,” she 
directed. 

“ Very good. Just as you think best. This 
evening, then, they shall have the story and the 
news,” nodded Uncle Jim. 

227 


A PRINCE OF JERUSALEM 


“ What are you two talking about so mysteri¬ 
ously? ” demanded Betty suspiciously, as she 
entered the parlor with Dick. 

“ That, Blue Eyes, is a deep, dark secret,” 
answered Uncle Jim teasingly. “ By the way, I 
think I shall put off our story until evening — 
after supper, as I shall be rather busy to-day. I 
have to go over to town to see a lawyer, and 
may be away for some time. You children have 
all the fun you can while I am away.” 

Dick and Betty were disappointed, and Betty 
was filled with curiosity, not unmixed with suspi¬ 
cion. She scented mystery in the air. Soon after 
that Uncle Jim went over to the village and did 
not return home until nearly supper time. Im¬ 
mediately after they had finished the evening 
meal, the little household gathered in the parlor, 
the children full of eagerness for the promised 
story. 

Uncle Jim’s kindly blue eyes regarded Dick and 
Betty soberly, then, without further delay, he 
began the story of “ A Prince of Jerusalem ”: 

“ In the days of long ago there was a magnifi¬ 
cent city called Babylon, through the middle of 
which flowed the river Euphrates. The King’s 
palace was especially fine, and the different 
monarchs who lived there were very proud of 

228 


A PRINCE OF JERUSALEM 


the splendors of their city, and often spoke of it 
as Babylon the Great. You will recall, children, 
that I described this city to you yesterday,” said 
Uncle Jim. 

“ But among the treasures of Babylon were 
many things that had been stolen from the 
Temple at Jerusalem — pillars of brass, orna¬ 
ments of silver, and an exquisite screen carved to 
look like pomegranate fruit and flowers. For 
the armies of Babylon had conquered the city 
of David, and made prisoners of many of her 
people. 

“ One of these prisoners was a beautiful boy 
called Daniel, who was as fair to look at as David 
had been, and full of the quiet wisdom of God. 

“ This boy from Jerusalem was really a little 
Prince in his own country, for he was of the 
family of the Jewish Kings. The courtiers and 
governors of the great palace at Babylon brought 
him up very carefully, for they wanted to make 
him like one of themselves. But Daniel never 
forgot his own people, and the God about whom 
he had learned in the lovely Temple that held 
the Ark. And as he grew older his wisdom and 
his goodness increased, so that he was able to 
do things that other people could not do; and, 
like Joseph, he could tell the meaning of dreams. 

229 


A PRINCE OF JERUSALEM 


“ Well, as time went on, the King of Babylon 
inquired what had become of the beautiful boy 
from Jerusalem and his other little royal com¬ 
panions. So the courtiers brought them to him 
as he sat on his throne. 

“ The boys had grown up into young men now, 
and the King found them, in wisdom and under¬ 
standing, ten times better than all the old 
learned magicians and teachers that he kept 
about him at his court. So he always had the 
young men near to him; and Daniel, who was 
wiser than any of the others, became at last the 
head of the company of counsellors. He was 
named 4 Master of the Magicians/ and he wore a 
beautiful scarlet robe, and a glittering gold chain 
hung round his neck and fell almost to the hem of 
the crimson, gown. 

“ He stayed at the court in great pomp and 
state during the reigns of two Kings. He ex¬ 
plained to them the mysterious power of Jehovah, 
and told them what was right and what was 
wrong. So the Kings said of him that the spirit 
of the gods was in him, and that no secret was 
hidden from his eyes. 

“ Then a King came to the throne of Babylon 
who was called Darius; and Daniel stayed with 
Darius, and helped and strengthened him. 

230 


A PRINCE OF JERUSALEM 

Darius was ruler over many people beyond Baby¬ 
lon ; and among these people were the Medes and 
Persians. They all looked to Darius — who was 
a Mede himself by birth — to do wisely and 
justly in the land. So he set a hundred and 
twenty princes over the whole kingdom, and three 
presidents over the princes; and Daniel was the 
chief president of all. 

“ But, as so often happens, the hundred and 
twenty princes and the two other presidents grew 
jealous of Daniel and plotted to destroy him. 
They said: 

“ He does no wrong! He is faithful and true, 
and the people love him! We can only do him 
harm through the law of his God! ’ 

“ So they went to Darius, and praised his kingly 
greatness, and his power of making everybody 
happy, and said they had thought of a way by 
which he could make himself still more popular. 

“ ‘ O King Darius! ’ they said, Get no one, for 
thirty days, ask favors of anyone but thee! Let 
no one petition either God or man for help except 
thy great and glorious self! Make a decree that 
this be so and that whoever disobeys shall be 
thrown into the den of lions! Write it in thine 
own handwriting and seal it with thine own 
seal! ’ 


231 


A PRINCE OF JERUSALEM 


“ So King Darius, quite unsuspecting, and be¬ 
lieving that the hundred and twenty princes and 
the two presidents were advising him in all purity 
of heart, wrote the decree and sealed it with his 
seal; and it became a law of the Medes and 
Persians, which laws were never altered or 
changed. 

“ Daniel, like everybody else, heard about the 
new order given by King Darius. But he just 
smiled quietly to himself and went to the open 
windows of his house, and prayed there three 
times a day, as usual, with his face set towards 
Jerusalem. All the people in the street below 
saw the master of the magicians, the greatest 
ruler in the land after Darius himself, quietly 
kneeling in his window in his scarlet robe and 
golden chain, and making petitions to God in de¬ 
fiance of the unalterable command of the King. 

“ Then, in great triumph, the princes and presi¬ 
dents hurried to Darius, and told him that Dan¬ 
iel — the favored and honored Daniel — had him¬ 
self broken a law of the Medes and Persians! 
Darius saw how he had been tricked, and his heart 
was nearly broken; and until the sun went down 
he tried to persuade his counsellors to let him 
withdraw the decree, but they would not. 

“ So then, at sunset, the King sent for Daniel, 

232 


A PRINCE OF JERUSALEM 

and told him that he must be cast into the den 
of lions. Daniel answered nothing, and the sad 
procession, headed by the King, went from the 
throne-room down the steps to the great strong 
den w T here the royal lions were kept. And Daniel 
was thrown into the midst of them. 

“ But, even as the men flung him to the savage 
tawny beasts, that watched from their corners 
with wide mysterious eyes, the King’s voice broke 
out in a great cry of faith and hope, as he called 
to the magician whom he loved: 

“ ‘ Thy God, whom thou servest continually, 
He will deliver thee! ’ cried the sad King. And 
then a great stone was brought, and rolled in 
front of the door of the den, and the King sealed 
it with his own signet ring, and went miserably 
away. 

“ All night long Darius lay tossing on his bed. 
He had neither food nor drink, and ordered his 
musicians to keep away from him. He thought 
of nothing but Daniel, and very early in the morn¬ 
ing he left his fine bed-chamber and hurried down 
the steps again to the terrible den; and he cried 
out in anguish: 

“ ‘ 0 Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy 
God, whom thou servest continually, able to 
deliver thee from the lions? * 


233 


A PRINCE OF JERUSALEM 


“ And then, out of the depths of the den, came 
Daniel’s own voice: 

0 King, live forever! My God hath sent 
His angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that 
they have not hurt me! ’ 

“ Then the King, with great joy, sent for his 
servants and the keepers, and they opened the 
den, and Daniel came out. And Darius ordered 
those who had accused him to be thrown to the 
lions in his place; and the mighty monarch pro¬ 
claimed throughout his whole kingdom the power 
of the God of Daniel, who could work great 
marvels, and had delivered His faithful servant 
from the lions. 

“ That, children, is the end of the story,” an¬ 
nounced Uncle Jim, in a tone so quiet that the 
children glanced at him inquiringly. 

Betty wished to know if Daniel were not 
frightened nearly to death, all alone with the 
ferocious beasts. And Dick said that, had he 
been in Daniel’s place, it wouldn’t have been 
necessary for the lions to bite him. “ I should 
have died of fright,” he confessed. 

“ No,” said Uncle Jim in answer to Betty’s 
question. “ Daniel was not afraid. He placed 
his faith in God, and God protected him from 
all harm, just as he will protect you if you will 


234 


A PRINCE OF JERUSALEM 


but believe in him with all your heart and all 
your soul.” 

“ I do,” murmured Betty. 

“ Children, I have news for you,” announced 
Uncle Jim, raising his voice ever so little. 

“ I knew it,” nodded Betty. 

“ Father, you don’t mean — ” began Dick. 

" Yes, Son. This is the last story that Uncle 
Jim will be able to tell here in a long, long time. 
Important business matters call me home, and 
there is no other way than to go. To-morrow 
Dick and myself leave on the early train, Betty.” 

“ Oh, Uncle Jim,” stammered Betty, her eyes 
filling with tears. “ Don’t, please don’t! I knew 
it was too lovely to last, and I’ve been oh, 
so hap — ” 

“ Wait, Blue Eyes,” admonished Uncle Jim. 
“ There is better news to come, so save those tears 
for another day. Two days hence, your dear 
Daddy is coming home. He is in New York now 
with his ship, and — ” 

Betty uttered a cry, half laugh and half sob, 
and threw herself into her mother’s arms. In 
another moment she was laughing and crying on 
Uncle Jim’s shoulder. 

“My own Daddy! And you, my darling old 
Uncle Jim! What a happy girl I ought to be — 

235 


A PRINCE OF JERUSALEM 


what a happy girl I am — I’m going to cry again, 
I’m — ” Betty fled from the room, and a few 
moments later Mrs. Burroughs found the little 
yellow-haired girl sobbing out her happiness and 
her sorrow in her own room. 

Beloved Uncle Jim and Cousin Dick left for 
home early on the following morning, and a day 
later, the big bronzed man whom Betty called 
“ Daddy,” and whose voice was as deep and boom¬ 
ing as the sea he sailed, stepped into the 
Burroughs home, and Betty, uttering a shrill cry 
of delight, was folded tightly in his big, strong 
arms. 


THE END 


236 




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bassador’s Game. 




















THE PONY RIDER BOYS SERIES 

By FRANK GEE PATCHIN 


PRICE, $1.00 EACH 




PONY-RIDER-BOYS 

IN-THE-ROCKIES 


This unusual and popular series tells 
vividly the story of four adventure-lov¬ 
ing lads, who, with their guardian, spent 
their summer vacations in the saddle in 
search of recreation and healthful 
adventure, though for a time it seemed to 
them that nature and man had conspired 
to defeat them at every turn. Long 
journeys over mountain, through the 
fastness of primitive forest and across 
burning desert, lead them into the wild 
places of their native land as well as 
into many strange and exciting experi¬ 
ences. There is not a dull moment in the series for the Pony 
Rider Boys nor for those who read of their summer wander¬ 
ings. 

1. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE ROCKIES; or, The Secret of 

the Lost Claim. 

2. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN TEXAS; or, The Veiled Riddle of the 

Plains. 



frank gee patc 


3. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN MONTANA; or, The Mystery of the 

Old Custer Trail. 

4. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE OZARKS; or, The Secret of 

Ruby Mountain. 

5. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE ALKALI; or, Finding a Key to 

the Desert Maze. 

6. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN NEW MEXICO; or, The End of the 

Silver Trail. 

7. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE GRAND CANYON; or. The 

Mystery of Bright Angel''Gulch. 

8. THE PONY RIDER BOYS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS; or, On 

the Trail of the Border Bandits. 














THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS 

SERIES 


By FRANK GEE PATCHIN 


PRICE, $1.00 EACH 



‘Ttfe RANGE 
AND GRANGE 
HUSTLERS ON 
THE RANCH 

FRANK G-MXCKIN 




StRiES 


“Farming? Pooh!” This, today, is the atti¬ 
tude of the average American young man. Yet 
the most solid and enduring wealth comes out of 
the soil. The old farming conditions are passing. 
The ranch or great farm of today is really a 
gigantic business undertaking, employing multi¬ 
tudes, and those of the employees who rise and 
lead these multitudes find the best of incomes 
awaiting them. Ranch and farm today distinctly 
bid for brains, not mere muscle. Do you know, 
for instance, that from $10,000 to $12,000 a year 
is very common pay for the foremen of the great 
wheat ranches in Kansas? Have you any idea of 
the excitements, the glories of this life on great 
ranches in the West? Any bright boy will “de¬ 
vour” the books of this series, once he has made 
a start with the first volume. 


1. THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS ON THE RANCH; or. 

The Boy Shepherds of the Great Divide. 

2. THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS’ GREATEST ROUND¬ 

UP; or, Pitting Their Wits Against a Packers’ Combine. 

3. THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS ON THE PLAINS; or, 

Following the Steam Plows Across the Prairie. 

4. THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS AT CHICAGO; or. The 

Conspiracy of the Wheat Pit. 


THE BOYS OF STEEL SERIES 

By JAMES R. MEARS 

PRICE, $1.00 EACH 

In this splendid series the great American steel industry is exploited by 
a master pen. The author put in much time studying conditions at the 
iron mines, on the transportation routes and at the big steel mills. He has 
made of these volumes a series of romances with scenes laid in the iron and 
steel world. Each book presents a vivid picture of some phase of this 
great industry. The information given is exact and truthful; above all, 
each story is full of adventure and fascination. The steel industry today 
offers a splendid field for the efforts of really bright American youths. 
There are great possibilities of careers in this line of work; the brightest 
who enter may in time win some of the highest incomes paid in this coun¬ 
try. And the work is full of fascination throughout. 

1. THE IRON BOYS IN THE MINES; or, Starting at the Bottom of 

the Shaft. 

2. THE IRON BOYS AS FOREMEN; or, Heading the Diamond Drill 

Shift. 

3. THE IRON BOYS ON THE ORE BOATS; or, Roughing It on the 

Great Lakes. 

4. THE IRON BOYS IN THE STEEL MILLS; or. Beginning Anew in 

the Cinder Pits. 














THE CIRCUS BOYS SERIES 

By EDGAR B. P. DARLINGTON 

PRICE, $1.00 EACH 

No call to the heart of the youth of 
America finds a readier response than the 
call of the billowing canvas, the big red 
wagons, the crash of the circus band and 
the trill of the ringmaster’s whistle. It 
is a call that captures the imagination of 
old and young alike, and so do the books 
of this series capture and enthrall the 
reader, for they were written by one who, 
besides wielding a master pen, has fol¬ 
lowed the sawdust trail from coast to 
coast, who knows the circus people and 
the sturdy manliness of those who do 
and dare for the entertainment of mil¬ 
lions of circus-goers when the grass is 
green. Mr. Darlington paints a true picture of the circus life. 

1. THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE FLYING RINGS; or, Making the 

Start in the Sawdust Life. 

2. THE CIRCUS BOYS ACROSS THE CONTINENT; or, Winning 

New Laurels on the Tanbark. 

3. THE CIRCUS BOYS IN DIXIE LAND; or, Winning the Plaudits of 

the Sunny South. 

4. THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE MISSISSIPPI; or, Afloat with the 

Big Show on the Big River. 

5. THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE PLAINS; or, The Young Advance 

Agents Ahead of the Show. 

BOOKS FOR GIRLS 

THE MADGE MORTON SERIES 

By AMY D. V. CHALMERS 

PRICE, $1.00 EACH 

The heroines of these stories are four girls, who with en¬ 
thusiasm for outdoor life, transformed a dilapidated canal 
boat into a pretty floating summer home. They christened 
the craft “The Merry Maid” and launched it on the shore of 
Chesapeake Bay. The stories are full of fun and adventure, 
with not a dull moment anywhere. 

1. MADGE MORTON—CAPTAIN OF THE MERRY MAID. 

2. MADGE MORTON’S SECRET. 

3. MADGE MORTON’S TRUST. 

4. MADGE MORTON’S VICTORY. 















THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS SERIES 

By JANET ALDRIDGE 

PRICE, $1.00 EACH 

Four clever girls go hiking around 
the country and meet with many thril¬ 
ling and provoking adventures. These 
stories pulsate with the atmosphere of 
outdoor life. 

1. THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS UNDER 
CANVAS; or, Fun and Frolic in the Sum¬ 
mer Camp. 

2. THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS ACROSS 
COUNTRY; or, The Young Pathfinders 
on a Summer Hike. 

3. THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS AFLOAT; 
or, The Stormy Cruise of the Red Rover. 

4. THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS IN THE HILLS; or, The Missing 

Pilot of the White Mountains. 

5. THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS BY THE SEA; or, The Loss of the 

Lonesome Bar. 

6. THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS ON THE TENNIS COURTS; or. 

Winning Out in the Big Tournament. 

THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS SERIES 

By LAURA DENT CRANE 

PRICE, $1.00 EACH 

Girls as well as boys love wholesome adventure, a wealth 
of which is found in many forms and in many scenes in the 
volumes of this series. 

1. THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT NEWPORT; or, Watching the Sum¬ 

mer Parade. 

2. THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS IN THE BERKSHIRES; or, The 

Ghost of Lost Man’s Trail. 

3. THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS ALONG THE HUDSON; or, Fighting 

Fire in Sleepy Hollow. 

4. THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT CHICAGO; or, Winning Out 

Against Heavy Odds. 

5. THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT PALM BEACH; or, Proving Their 

Mettle Under Southern Skies. 

6. THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT WASHINGTON; or, Checkmating: 

the Plots of Foreign Spies. 

















THE HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS SERIES 

By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A. M. 


PRICE, $1.00 EACH 


The scenes, episodes, and adventures 
through which Grace Harlowe and her 
intimate chums pass in the course of 
these stories are pictured with a vivacity 
that at once takes the young feminine 
captive. 

1. GRACE HARLOWE’S PLEBE YEAR AT 

HIGH SCHOOL; or, The Merry Doings of 
the Oakdale Freshmen Girls. 

2. GRACE HARLOWE’S SOPHOMORE YEAR 

AT HIGH SCHOOL; or, The Record of the 
Girl Chums in Work and Athletics. 



3. GRACE HARLOWE’S JUNIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; or, 
Fast Friends in the Sororities. 


4. GRACE HARLOWE’S SENIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; or, 
The Parting of the Ways. 


THE COLLEGE GIRLS SERIES 

By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A. M. 

PRICE, $1.00 EACH 

Every school and college girl will recognize that the ac¬ 
count of Grace Harlowe’s experiences at Overton College is 
true to life. 

1. GRACE HARLOWE’S FIRST YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE. 

2. GRACE HARLOWE’S SECOND YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE. 

3. GRACE HARLOWE’S THIRD YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE. 

4. GRACE HARLOWE’S FOURTH YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE. 

5. GRACE HARLOWE’S RETURN TO OVERTON CAMPUS. 

6. GRACE HARLOWE’S PROBLEM. 

7. GRACE HARLOWE’S GOLDEN SUMMER. 










THE GRACE HARLOWE OVERSEAS 

SERIES 

By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A. M. 

PRICE, $1.00 EACH 

Grace Harlowe went with the Over- 
ton College Red Cross Unit to France, 
there to serve her country by aiding the 
American fighting forces. These books 
will interest every girl reader because 
they describe the great war from a 
girl’s point of view. 

1. GRACE HARLOWE OVERSEAS. 

2. GRACE HARLOWE WITH THE RED 
CROSS IN FRANCE. 

3. GRACE HARLOWE WITH THE MA¬ 
RINES AT CHATEAU THIERRY. 

4. GRACE HARLOWE WITH THE U. S. 
TROOPS IN THE ARGONNE. 

5. GRACE HARLOWE WITH THE YANKEE 
SHOCK BOYS AT ST. QUENTIN. 

WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY ON THE 

THE GRACE HARLOWE OVERLAND 

RIDERS SERIES 

By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A. M. 

PRICE, $1.00 EACH 

Grace Harlowe and her friends of the Overton College Unit 
seek adventure on the mountain trails and in the wilder sec¬ 
tions of their homeland, after their return from service in 
France. These are stories of real girls for real girls. 

1. GRACE HARLOWE’S OVERLAND RIDERS ON THE OLD 

APACHE TRAIL. 

2. GRACE HARLOWE’S OVERLAND RIDERS ON THE GREAT 

AMERICAN DESERT. 

3. GRACE HARLOWE’S OVERLAND RIDERS AMONG THE KEN¬ 

TUCKY MOUNTAINEERS. 

4. GRACE HARLOWE’S OVERLAND RIDERS IN THE GREAT 

NORTH WOODS. 

5. GRACE HARLOWE’S OVERLAND RIDERS IN THE HIGH 

SIERRAS. 

6. GRACE HARLOWE’S OVERLAND RIDERS IN THE YELLOW¬ 

STONE NATIONAL PARK. 

7. GRACE HARLOWE’S OVERLAND RIDERS IN THE BLACK 

HILLS. 

8. GRACE HARLOWE’S OVERLAND RIDERS AT CIRCLE O 

RANCH. 



r 


4 




GraceHarlowe 
Overseas 



6. GRACE HARLOWE 
RHINE. 




























WEE BOOKS FOR WEE FOLKS 

For little hands to fondle and for mother to read aloud. 
Every ounce of them will give a ton of joy. 

WEE BOOKS FOR WEE FOLKS SERIES 


1. MOTHER GOOSE NURSERY TALES. 

2. MOTHER GOOSE NURSERY RHYMES. 

3. A CHILD’S GARDEN OF VERSES. Robert 

Louis Stevenson. 

4. THE FOOLISH FOX. 

5. THREE LITTLE PIGS. 

6 THE ROBBER KITTEN. 

7. LITTLE BLACK SAMBO. 

8. THE LITTLE SMALL RED HEN. 

9. THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS. 

10. THE LITTLE WISE CHICKEN THAT 

KNEW IT ALL. 

11. PIFFLE’S ABC BOOK OF FUNNY ANIMALS. 

12. THE FOUR LITTLE PIGS THAT DIDN’T HAVE ANY MOTHER. 

13. THE LITTLE PUPPY THAT WANTED TO KNOW TOO MUCH. 

14. THE COCK, THE MOUSE AND THE LITTLE RED HEN. 

15. GRUMTY GRUNTS AND SMILEY SMILE—INDOORS. 

16. GRUNTY GRUNTS AND SMILEY SMILE—OUTDOORS. 

17. I DON’T WANT TO WEAR COATS AND THINGS. 

18. I DON’T WANT TO GO TO BED. 

WEE FOLKS BIBLE STORIES SERIES 

1. WEE FOLKS STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT. In 

Words of One Syllable. 

2. WEE FOLKS STORIES FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT. In 

Words of One Syllable. 

3. WEE FOLKS LIFE OF CHRIST. 

4. WEE FOLKS BIBLE ABC BOOK. 

5. LITTLE PRAYERS FOR LITTLE LIPS. 

THE WISH FAIRY SERIES 

1. THE LONG AGO YEARS STORIES. 

2. THE WISH FAIRY OF THE SUNSHINE AND SHADOW 

FOREST. 

3. THE WISH FAIRY AND DEWY DEAR. 

4 THE MUD WUMPS OF THE SUNSHINE AND SHADOW 
FOREST. 

PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED IN COLORS. 



PRICE, 50c. EACH 
















WEE FOLKS PETER RABBIT SERIES 

1. THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT. 

2. HOW PETER RABBIT WENT TO SEA. 

3. PETER RABBIT AT THE FARM. 

4. PETER RABBIT’S CHRISTMAS. 

5. PETER RABBIT’S EASTER. 

6. WHEN PETER RABBIT WENT TO 
SCHOOL. 

7. PETER RABBIT’S BIRTHDAY. 

8. PETER RABBIT GOES A-VISITING. 

9. PETER RABBIT AND JACK-THE-JUMPER. 

10. PETER RABBIT, JACK-THE-JUMPER AND THE LITTLE BOY. 

11. PETER RABBIT, JACK-THE-JUMPER AND LITTLE WHITE 

RABBIT. 

12. PETER RABBIT, JACK-THE-JUMPER AND THE OLD WITCH 

WOMAN. 

13. PETER RABBIT, JACK-THE-JUMPER AND THE TINYBITS. 

14. WHEN PETER RABBIT WENT A-FISHING. 

15. OLD MOTHER RABBIT AND THE BIG BROWN BEAR. 

WEE FOLKS CINDERELLA SERIES 

1. THE WONDERFUL STORY OF CINDERELLA. 

2. THE STORY OF LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD. 

3. THE CLDTIME STORY OF THE THREE BEARS. 

4. THE OLD, OLD STORY OF POOR COCK ROBIN. 

5. CHICKEN LITTLE. 

6. PUSS IN BOOTS. 

7. THREE LITTLE KITTENS THAT LOST THEIR MITTENS. 

8. JACK THE GIANT KILLER. 

9. JACK AND THE BEAN-STALK. 

10. TOM THUMB. 

LITTLE BUNNIE BUNNIEKIN SERIES 

1. LITTLE BUNNIE BUNNIEKIN. 

2. LITTLE LAMBIE LAMBKIN. 

3. LITTLE MOUSIE MOUSIEKIN. 

4. LITTLE DEARIE DEER. 

5. LITTLE SQUIRRELIE SQUIRRELIEKIN. 

6. OLD RED REYNARD THE FOX. 

PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED IN COLORS. 



PRICE, 50c. EACH 



















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